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THE 


PROVINCIAL  LETTERS 


BLAISE    PASCAL. 

A  NEW  TRANSLATION 

WITH  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION  AND  NOTEK, 

BY 

THE  REV.  THOMAS  M'CRIE. 


U  my  letters  are  condemned  at  Rome,  that  which  I  condemn  in  then 
is  condemned  in  heaven. — PASCAL. 


NEW  YORK: 

ROBERT   CARTER   &   BROTHERS 

No.    530   BROADWAY. 

1856. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PREFACE, '.  .    vii 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION, 


LETTER  L 

Disputes  in  the  Sorbonne,  and  the  invention  of  proximate  power 
— a  term  employed  by  the  Jesuits  to  procure  the  censure  of  M. 
Arnauld, 63 

LETTER  H. 

Of  sufficient  grace,  which  turns  out  to  be  not  sufficient — Concert 
between  the  Jesuits  and  the  Dominicans — A  parable,  .  .  76 

Reply  of  "  the  Provincial"  to  the  first  two  Letters,          .        .        .88 


LETTER  HI. 

Injustice,  absurdity,  and  nullity  of  the  censure  on  M.  Arnauld — A 
personal  heresy .        .90 


LETTER  IV. 

Actual  grace  and  sins  of  ignorance — Father  Bauny's  Summary  of 
sins, 100 


LETTER  V. 

Design  of  the  Jesuits  in  establishing  a  new  system  of  morals — 
Two  <«crU  of  casuists  among  them — A  great  many  lax  and  some 
severe  ones — Reason  of  this  difference — Explanation  of  the  doc- 
trine of  probabilism — A  multitude  of  modern  and  unknown  au- 
thors substituted  in  the  place  of  the  holy  fathers — Escobar,  .  116 


2026899 


LETTER  VI. 

PAGE 

Various  artifices  of  the* Jesuits  to  elude  the  authority  of  the  gospel, 
of  councils,  and  of  the  popes — So.ue  consequences  resulting  from 
their  doctrine  of  probability — Their  relaxations  in  favor  of  bene- 
ficiaries, of  priests,  of  monks,  and  of  domestics^-Story  of  John 
d'Alba, 135 

LETTER  VII. 

Method  of  directing  the  intention  adopted  by  the  casuists — Permis- 
sion to  kill  in  defence  of  honor  and  property,  extended  even  to 
priests  and  monks — Curious  question  raised  as  to  whether  Jesuits 
may  be  allowed  to  kill  Jansenists, 152 

LETTER  VIII. 

Corrupt  maxims  of  the  casuists  relating  to  judges — Usurers — The 
Contract  Mohatra — Bankrupts — Restitution — Divers  ridiculous 
notions  of  these  same  casuists,  .  • 170 

LETTER  IX. 

False  worship  of  the  Virgin  introduced  by  the  Jesuits — Devotion 
made  easy — Their  maxims  on  ambition,  envy,  gluttony,  equiv- 
ocation, mental  reservations,  female  dress,  gaming,  and  hearing 


LETTER  X. 

Palliatives  applied  by  the  Jesuits  to  the  sacrament  of  penance,  in 
their  maxims  regarding  confession,  satisfaction,  absolution,  prox- 
imate occasions  of  sin,  and  love  to  God 206 


LETTER  XL 

The  Letters  vindicated  from  the  charge  of  profaneness — Ridicule  a 
fair  weapon,  when  employed  against  absurd  opinions— Rules  to 
be  observed  in  the  use  of  this  weapon— Charitableness  and  dis- 
cretion of  the  Provincial  Letters — Specimens  of  genuine  profane- 
ness  in  the  writings  of  Jesuits,  .......  225 

LETTER  XII. 

The  quirks  and  chicaneries  of  the  Jesuits  on  the  subjects  of  alms- 
giving and  simony .  .  243 


CONTENTS.  V 

LETTER  Xm. 

PAGE 

Fidelity  of  Pascal's  quotations — Speculative  murder — Killing  for 
slander — Fear  of  the  consequences — The  policy  of  Jesuitism,  .  260 

LETTER  XIV. 

On  murder — The  Scriptures  on  murder — Lessius,  Molina,  and  Lay- 
man on  murder — Christian  and  Jesuitical  legislation  contrasted,  277 

LETTER  XV. 

On  calumny — M.  Puys  and  Father  Alby — An  odd  heresy — Bare- 
faced denials — Flat  contradictions  and  vague  insinuations  em- 
ployed by  the  Jesuits — The  Capuchin's  Mentiris  impudentissime,  295 

LETTER  XVI. 

Calumnies  against  Port-Royal — Port-Royalists  no  heretics— M.  de 
St.  Cyran  and  M.  Arnauld  vindicated — Slanders  against  the 
nuns  of  Port-Royal — Miracle  of  the  holy  thorn — No  impunity 
for  slanderers — Excuse  for  a  long  letter, 314 

LETTER  XVII. 

The  author  of  the  Letters  vindicated  from  the  charge  of  heresy — 
The  five  propositions— The  popes  fallible  in  matters  of  fact — Per- 
secution of  the  Jansenists — The  grand  object  of  the  Jesuits,  .  341 

LETTER  XVm. 

The  sense  of  Jansenius  not  the  sense  of  Calvin — Resistibility  of 
grace — Jansenius  no  heretic — The  popes  may  be  surprised — Tes- 
timony of  the  senses — Condemnation  of  Galileo — Conclusion,  .  366 

LETTER  XIX. 

Fragment  of  a  nineteenth  Provincial  Letter,  addressed  to  Pere 
Annat,  .  **'-*.  391 


THE  TRANSLATOR'S  PREFACE. 


THE  following  translation  of  the  Pi-ovincm!  Letters  was  undertaken 
several  years  ago.  in  compliance  with  the  suggestion  of  a  revered  pa- 
rent, chiefly  as  a  literary  recreation  in  a  retired  country  charge,  and, 
.after  being  finished,  was' laid  aside.  It  is  now  published  at  the  request 
of  friends,  who  considered  such  a  work  as  peculiarly  seasonable,  and 
more  likely  to  be  acceptable  at  the  present  crisis,  when  general  atten- 
tion has  been  again  directed  to  the  popish  controversy,  and  when  such 
strenuous  exertions  are  being  made  by  the  Jesuits  to  regain  influence 
in  our  country. 

None  are  strangers  to  the  fame  of  the  Provincials,  and  few  literary 
persons  would  choose  to  confess  themselves  altogether  ignorant  of  a 
work  which  has  acquired  a  world-wide  reputation.  Yet  there  is  reason 
to  suspect  that  few  books  of  the  same  acknowledged  merit  have  had  a 
more  limited  circle  ofbonajide  English  readers.  This  may  be  ascribed, 
in  a  great  measure,  to  the  want  of  a  good  English  translation'.  Two 
translations  of  the  Provincials  have  already  appeared  in  our  language. 
The  first  was  contemporary  with  the  Letters  themselves,  and  was  printed 
at  London  in  1657,  under  the  title  of  "  Les  Provinciates ;  or,  The  Mys- 
terie  of  Jesuitism,  discovered  in  certain  Letters,  written  upon  occasion 
of  the  present  differences  at  Sorbonne,  between  the  Jansenists  and  the 
Molinists,  from  January  1656  to  March  1657,  S.  N.  Displaying  the 
corrupt  Maximes  and  Politicks  of  that  Society.  Faithfully  rendered 
into  English.  Sicut  Serpentes."  Of  the  translation  under  this  unprom- 
ising title,  it  may  only  be  remarked,  that  it  is  probably  one  of  the  worst 
specimens  of  "  rendering  into  English"  to  be  met  with,  even  during  that 
age  when  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  art  of  translation.  Under  its 
uncouth  phraseology,  not  only  are  the  wit  and  spirit  of  the  original 
completely  shrouded,  but  the  meaning  is  so  disguised  that  the  work  is 
almost  as  unintelligible  as  it  is  uninteresting. 

Another  translation  of  the  Letters — of  which  I  was  not  aware  till  I 
had  completed  mine — was  published  in  London  in  1816.  On  discover- 
ing that  a  new  attempt  had  been  made  to  put  the  English  public  in 
possession  of  the  Provincials,  and  that  it  had  failed  to  excite  any  gen- 
eral interest,  I  was  induced  to  lay  aside  all  thoughts  of  publishing  my 
version  ;  but,  after  examining  the  modern  translation,  I  became  con- 
vinced that  its  failure  might  be  ascribed  to  other  causes  than  want  of 
taste  among  us  for  the  beauties  and  excellences  of  Pascal.  This  trans- 
lation, though  written  in  good  English,  bears  evident  marks  of  haste,  and 
of  want  of  acquaintance  with  the  religious  controversies  of  the  time ; 
in  consequence  of  which,  the  sense  and  spirit  of  the  original  have  been 
cither  entirely  lost  or  so  imperfectly  developed,  as  to  render  its  perusal 
exceedingly  tantalizing  and  unsatisfactory. 


viii  THE  TRANSLATOR'S  PREPACK. 

It  remains  for  the  public  to  judge  how  far  the  present  version  may 
have  succeeded  in  giving  a  more  readable  and  faithful  transcript  of  the 
Provincial  Letters.  No  pains,  at  least  have  been  spared  to  enhance  its 
interest  and  insure  its  fidelity.  Among  the  numerous  French  editions 
of  the  Letters,  the  basis  of  the  following  translation  is  that  of  Amster- 
dam, published  in  four  volumes  12mo,  17G7;  with  the  notes  of  Nicole, 
and  his  prefatory  History  of  the  Provincials,  which  were  translated 
from  the  Latin  into  French  by  Mademoiselle  de  Joncourt.  With  this 
and  other  French  editions  I  have  compared  Nicole's  Latin  translation, 
which  appeared  in  1658,  and  received  the  sanction  of  Pascal. 

The  voluminous  notes  of  Nicole,  however  interesting  they  may  have 
been  at  the  time,  and  to  the  parties  involved  in  the  Jansenist  contro- 
versy, are  not,  in  general  of  such  a  kind  as  to  invite  attention  now ; 
nor  would  a  full  translation  even  of  his  historical  details,  turning  as 
they  do  chiefly  on  local  and  temporary  disputes,  be  likely  to  reward  the 
patience  of  the  reader.  So  far  as  they  were  fitted  to  throw  light  on 
the  original  text,  I  have  availed  myself  of  these,  along  with  other 
sources  of  information,  in  the  marginal  notes.  Some  ot'  these  annota- 
tions, as  might  be  expected  from  a  Protestant  editor,  are  intended  to 
correct  error,  or  to  guard  against  misconception. 

To  the  full  understanding  of  the  Provincials,  however,  some  idea  of 
the  controversies  which  occasioned  their  publication  seems  almost  in- 
dispensable. This  I  have  attempted  to  furnish  in  the  Historical  Intro- 
duction ;  which  will  also  be  found  to  contain  some  interesting  facts, 
hitherto  uncollected,  and  borrowed  from  a  variety  of  authorities  not 
generally  accessible,  illustrating  the  history  of  the  Letters,  and  the  par- 
ties concerned  in  them,  with  a  vindication  of  Pascal  from  the  charge* 
which  this  work  has  provoked  from  so  many  quarters  against  him. 


HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION 

TO 

THE    PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

BY    THE    TRANSLATOR. 


THE  Church  of  Rome,  notwithstanding  her  pretensions  to 
infallibility,  has  been  fully  as  prolific  in  theological  contro- 
versy and  intestine  discord  as  any  of  the  Reformed  Churches. 
She  has  contrived,  indeed,  with  singular  policy,  to  preserve, 
amidst  all  her  variations,  the  semblance  of  unity.  Protest- 
anism,  like  the  primitive  Church,  suffered  its  dissentients  to 
fly  off  into  hostile  or  independent  communions.  The  Papacy, 
on  the  contrary,  has  managed  to  retain  hers  within  the  out- 
ward pale  of  her  fellowship,  by  the  institution  of  various 
religious  orders,  which  have  served  as  safety-valves  for  exu- 
berant zeal,  and  which,  though  often  hostile  to  each  other, 
have  remained  attached  to  the  mother  Church,  and  even 
proved  her  most  efficient  supporters.  Still,  at  different  times, 
storms  have  arisen  within  the  Romish  Church,  which  could 
be  quelled  neither  by  the  infallibility  of  popes  nor  the  author- 
ity of  councils.  It  is.  doubtful  if  religious  controversy  ever 
raged  with  so  much  violence  in  the  Reformed  Church,  as  it 
did  between  the  Thomists  and  the  Scotists,  the  Dominicans 
and  Franciscans,  the  Jesuits  and  the  Jansenists,  of  the  Church 
of  Rome. 

Uninviting  as  they  may  now  appear,  the  disputes  about 
grace,  in  which  the  last  mentioned  parties  were  involved,  gave 
occasion  to  the  Provincial  Letters.  The  origin  of  these  dis- 
putes must  be  traced  as  far  back  as  the  days  of  Augustine 
1* 


Z  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

and  the  Pelagian  controversy  of  the  fifth  century.  The  motto 
of  Pelagius  was  free-will ;  that  of  Augustine -was  efficacious 
grace.  The  former  held  that,  notwithstanding  the  fall,  the 
human  will  was  perfectly  free  to  choose  at  any  time  between 
good  and  evil ;  the  latter,  that  in  consequence  of  the  full, 
the  will  is  in  a  state  of  moral  bondage,  from  which  it  can 
only  be  freed  by  divine  grace.  With  the  British  monk, 
election  is  suspended  on  the  decision  of  man's  will ;  human 
nature  is  still  as  pure  as  it  came  originally  from  the  hands  of 
the  Creator :  Christ  died  equally  for  all  men ;  and,  as  the 
result  of  his  death,  a  general  grace  is  granted  to  all  mankind, 
which  any  may  comply  with,  but  which  all  may  finally  for- 
feit. With  the  African  bishop,  election  is  absolute— we  are 
predestinated,  not  from  foreseen  holiness,  but  that  we  might 
be  holy  ;*  all  men  are  lying  under  the  guilt  or  penal  obliga- 
tion of  the  first  sin,  and  in  a  state  of  spiritual  helplessness  and 
corruption ;  the  sacrifice  of  Christ  was,  in  point  of  destina- 
tion, offered  for  the  elect,  though,  in  point  of  exhibition,  it  is 
offered  to  all ;  and  the  saints  obtain  the  gift  of  perseverance 
in  holiness  to  the  end.f 

Pelagius,  whose  real  name  was  Morgan,  and  who  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  a  Welshman,  belonged  to  that  numerous 
class  of  thinkers,  who,  from  their  peculiar  idiosyncrasy,  are 
apt  to  start  at  the  sovereignty  of  divine  grace,  developed 
in  the  plan  of  redemption,  as  if  it  struck  at  once  at  the  equity 
ef  God  and  the  responsibility  of  man.  He  is  said  to  have 
betrayed  his  heretical  leanings,  for  the  first  time,  by  publicly 
expressing  his  disapprobation  of  a  sentiment  of  Augustine, 
which  he  heard  quoted  by  a  bishop  »  "  Da  quod  jubes,  et 
jube  quod  vis — Give,  Lord,  what  thou  biddest,  and  bid  what 
thou  wilt."  It  would  be  easy  to  show  that,  in  recoiling  from 
the  odious  picture  of  the  orthodox  doctrine,  drawn  by  his 
own  fancy,  he  fell  into  the  very  consequences  which  he  was 
so  eager  to  avoid.  The  deity  of  Pelagius  being  subjected 

*  Non  quia  per  nos  sancti  et  immaculati  futuri  essemus,  sed   elegit 
prsedestinavitque  ut  essemus.  (De  Prsedest.  Aug.  Op.,  toin.  x.  815.) 
t  Pe  dono  Persever.    (Ib,  822.) 


AUGUSTINE    AND    PELAGIUS.  XI 

to  the  changeable  will  of  the  creature,  all  things  were  left  to 
the  direction  of  blind  chance  or  unthinking  destiny  ;  while 
man,  being  represented  as  created  with  concupiscence,  to 
account  for  his  aberrations  from  rectitude — in  other  words, 
with  a  constitution  in  which  the  seeds  of  evil  were  implanted 
— the  authorship  of  sin  was  ascribed,  directly  and  primarily, 
to  the  Creator.* 

Augustine  was  a  powerful  but  unsteady  writer,  and  has 
expressed  himself  so  inconsistently  as  to  have  divided  the 
opinions  of  the  Latin  Church,  where  he  was  recognized  as  a 
standard,  canonized  as  a  saint,  and  revered  under  the  title 
of  "  The  Doctor  of  Grace."  On  the  great  doctrine  of  salva- 
tion by  grace,  he  is  scriptural  and  evangelical ;  and  hence  he 
has  been  frequently  quoted  with  admiration  by  our  Reformed 
divines,  partly  to  evince  the  declension  of  Rome  from  the 
faith  of  the  earlier  fathers,  partly  from  that  veneration  for 
antiquity,  which  induces  us  to  bestow  more  notice  on  the 
ivy-mantled  ruin,  than  on  the  more  graceful  and  commodious 
modern  edifice  in  its  vicinity.  When  arguing  against  Pelagi- 
anism,  Augustine  is  strong  in  the  panoply  of  Scripture  ;  when 
developing  his  own  system,  he  fails  to  do  justice  either  to 
Scripture  or  to  himself.  Loud,  and  even  fierce,  for  the  entire 
corruption  of  human  nature,  he  spoils  all  by  admitting  the 
absurd  dogma  of  baptismal  regeneration.  Chivalrous  in  the 
defence  of  grace,  as  opposed  to  free-will,  he  virtually  aban- 
dons the  field  to  the  enemy,  by  teaching  that  we  are  justified 
by  our  works  of  evangelical  obedience,  and  that  the  faith 
which  justifies  includes  in  its  nature  all  the  offices  of  Christian 
charity. 

During  the  dark  ages,  the  Church  of  Rome,  professing  the 
highest  veneration  for  St.  Augustine,  had  ceased  to  hold  the 
Augustinian  theology.  The  Dominicans,  indeed,  yielded  a 
vague  allegiance  to  it,  by  adhering  to  the  views  of  Thomas 
Aquinas,  "  the  angelic  doctor"  of  the  schools,  from  whom 
they  were  termed  Thomists ;  while  the  Franciscans,  who  op- 
posed them,  under  the  auspices  of  Duns  Scotus,  from  whom 

*  Neander,  Bibl.  Repos.,  iii.  94 ;  Leydecker,  de  Jansen.  Dogm.,  413. 


xH  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

they  were  termed"  Scotists,  leaned  to  the  views  of  Pelagius. 
The  Scotists,  like  the  modern  advocates  of  free-will,  inveighed 
against  their  opponents  as  fatalists,  and  charged  them  with 
making  God  the  author  of  sin  ;  the  Thomists,  again,  retorted 
on  the  Scotists,  by  accusing  them  of  annihilating  the  grace 
of  God.  But  the  doctrines  of  grace  had  sunk  out  of  view, 
under  a  mass  of  penances,  oblations,  and  intercessions,  founded 
on  the  assumption  of  human  merit,  and  on  that  very  confu- 
sion of  the  forensic  change  in  justification  with  the  moral 
change  in  sanctification,  in  which  Augustine  had  unhappily 
led  the  way.  At  length  the  Reformation  appeared  ;  and  as 
both  Luther  and  Calvin  appealed  to  the  authority  of  Augus- 
tine, when  treating  of  grace  and  free-will,  the  Romish  divines, 
in  their  zeal  against  the  Reformers,  became  still  more  deci- 
dedly Pelagian.  In  the  Council  of  Trent,  the  admirers  of 
Augustine  durst  hardly  show  themselves ;  the  Jesuits  carried 
everything  before  them  ;  and  the  anathemas  of  that  synod, 
which  were  aimed  at  Calvin  fully  as  much  as  Luther,  though 
they  professed  to  condemn  only  the  less  guarded  statements 
of  the  German  reformer,  were  all  in  favor  of  Pelagius. 

The  controversy  was  revived  in  the  Latin  Church,  about 
the  close  of  'the  sixteenth  century,  both  in  the  Low  Countries 
and  in  Spain.  In  1588,  Lewis  Molina,  a  Spanish  Jesuit, 
published  lectures  on  "  The  Concord  of  Grace  and  Free- 
Will  ;"  and  this  work,  filled  with  the  jargon  of  the  schools, 
gave  rise  to  disputes  which  continued  to  agitate  the  Church 
during  the  whole  of  the  succeeding  century.  Molina  con- 
ceived that  he  had  discovered  a  method  of  reconciling  the 
divine  purposes  with  the  freedom  of  the  human  will,  which 
would  settle  the  question  forever.  According  to  his  theory, 
God  not  only  foresaw  from  eternity  all  things  possible,  by  a 
foresight  of  intelligence,  and  all  things  future  by  a  foresight 
of  vision ;  but  by  another  kind  of  foresight,  intermediate  be- 
tween these  two,  which  he  termed  scientla  media,  or  middle 
knowledge,  he  foresaw  what  might  have  happened  under 
certain  circumstances  or  conditions,  though  it  never  may  take 
place.  All  men,  according  to  Molina,  are  favored  with  a 


general  grace,  sufficient  to  work  out  their  salvation,  if  they 
choose  to  improve  it ;  but  when  God  designs  to  convert  a 
sinner,  he  vouchsafes  that  measure  of  grace  which  he  fore- 
sees, according  to  the  middle  knowledge,  or  in  all  'the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  the  person  will  comply  with.  The 
honor  of  this  discovery  was  disputed  by  another  Jesuit,  Peter 
Fonseca,  who  declared  that  the  very  same  thing  had  burst 
upon  his  mind  with  all  the  force  of  inspiration,  when  lecturing 
on  the  subject  some  years  before.* 

Abstruse  as  these  questions  may  appear,  they  threatened 
a  serious  rupture  in  the  Romish  Church.  The  Molinists  were 
summoned  to  Rome  in  1598,  to  answer  the  charges  of  the 
Dominicans  ;  and  after  some  years  of  deliberation,  Pope 
Clement  VIII.  decided  against  Molina.  The  Jesuits,  how- 
ever, alarmed  for  the  credit  of  their  order,  never  Vested  till 
they  prevailed  on  the  old  pontiff  to  re-examine  the  matter ; 
and  in  1602,  he  appointed  a  grand  council  of  cardinals,  bish- 
ops, and  divines,  who  convened  for  discussion  no  less  than 
seventy-eight  times.  This  council  was  called  Con-greyatio  de 
Auziliis,  or  council  on  the  aids  of  grace.  Its  records  being 
kept  secret,  the  result  of  their  collective  wisdom  was  not 
known  with  certainty,  and  has  been  lost  to  the  world. f  The 
probability  is,  that  like  Milton's  "  grand  infernal  peers,"  who 
reasoned  high  on  similar  points, 

"  They  found  no  end,  in  wandering  mazes  lost." 

Those  who  appealed  to  them  for  the  settlement  of  the  ques- 
tion, had  too  much  reason  to  say,  as  the  man  in  Terence  does 
to  his  lawyers — "Fecistis  probe  /  incertior^sum  multo  quam 
dudum."l 

But  this  interminable  'dispute  was  destined  to  assume  a 
more  popular  form,  and  lead  to  more  practical  results.  In 

*  The  question  of  the  middle  knowledge  is  learnedly  handled  by 
Voetius  (Disp.  Theol.,  i.  234).  by  Hoombeck  (Socin.  Confut),  and 
other  Protestant  divines  who  have  shown  it  to  be  untenable,  useless, 
and  fraught  with  absurdity. 

t  Dupin:  Eccl.  Hist.,  17th  cent.  1-14. 

^  "  Well  done,  gentlemen  ;  you  have  left  me  more  in  the  dark  than 
ever." 


XIV  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

1604,  two  young  men  entered,  as  fellow-students,  the  uni- 
versity of  Louvain,  which  had  been  distinguished  for  its  hos- 
tility to  Molinism.  Widely  differing  in  natural  temperament 
as  well  as  outward  rank,  Cornelius  Jansen,  who  was  afterwards 
bishop  of  Ypres,  and  John  Duverger  de  Hauranne,  afterwards 
known  as  the  Abbe  de  St.  Cyran,  formed  an  acquaintance 
which  soon  ripened  into  friendship.  They  began  to  study 
together  the  works  of  Augustine,  and  to  compare  them  with 
the  Scriptures.  The  immediate  result  was,  an  agreement. in 
opinion  that  the  ancient  father  was  in  the  right,  and  that  the 
Jesuits,  and  other  followers  of  Molina,  were  in  the  wrong. 
This  was  followed  by  an  ardent  desire  to  revive  the  doctrines 
of  tlieir  favorite  doctor — a  task  which  each  of  them  prosecuted 
in  the  way  most  suited  to  his  respective  character. 

Jansen,  or  Jansenius,  as  he  is  often  called,*  was  descended 
of  humble  parentage,  and  born  October  28,  1585,  in  a  village 
near  Leerdam,  in  Holland.  By  his  friends  he  is  extolled  for 
his  penetrating  genius,  tenacious  memory,  magnanimity,  and 
piety.  Taciturn  and  contemplative  in  his  habits,  he  was 
frequently  overheard,  when  taking  his  solitary  walks  in  the 
garden  of  the  monastery,  to  exclaim:  "0-veritasf  veritas ! 
— O  truth !  truth  !"  Keen  in  controversy,  ascetic  in  devo- 
tion, and  rigid  in  his  Catholicism,  his  antipathies  were  about 
equally  divided  between  heretics  and  Jesuits.  Towards  the 
Protestants,  his  acrimony  was  probably  augmented  by  the 
consciousness  of  having  embraced  views  which  might  expose 
himself  to  the  suspicion  of  heresy ;  or,  still  more  probably, 
by  that  uneasy  feeling  with  which  we  cannot  help  regarding 
those  who,  holding  the  same  doctrinal  views  with  ourselves, 
may  have  made  a  more  decided  and  consistent  profession  of 
them.  The  first  supposition  derives  countenance  from  the 
private  correspondence  between  him  and  his  friend  St.  Cyran, 
which  shows  some  dread  of  persecution  ;f  the  second  is  con- 

*  He  was  the  son  of  a  poor  artisan,  whose  name  was  Jan.  or  John 
Ottho ;  hence  Jansen,  corresponding  to  our  Johnson,  which  was  Latin- 
ized into  Jansenius. 

f  Petitot,  Collect  des  Memoires.  Notice  sur  Port-Royal,  torn,  xixiii., 


THE   JESUITS.  XV 

firmed  by  his  acknowledged  writings.  He  speaks  of  Protes- 
tants as  no  better  than  Turks,  and  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that 
"  they  had  much  more  reason  to  congratulate  themselves  on 
the  mercy  of  princes,  than  to  complain  of  their  seventies, 
which,  as  the  vilest  of  heretics,  they  richly  deserved."*  His 
controversy  with  the  learned  Gilbert  Voet  led  the  latter  to 
publish  his  Desperata  Causa  Papatus,  one  of  the  best  expo- 
sures of  the  weaknesses  of  Popery.  When  to  this  we  add 
that  the  Calvinistic  synod  of  Dort,  in  1618,  had  condemned 
Arminius  and  the  Dutch  Remonstrants  as  having  fallen  into 
the  errors  of  Pelagius  and  Molina,  the  position  of  Jansen 
became  still  more  complicated.  Of  Arminius  he  could  not 
approve,  without  condemning  Augustine ;  with  the  Protes- 
tant synod  he  could  not  agree,  unless  he  chose  to  be  de- 
nounced as  a  Calvinist.  .. 

But  the  natural  enemies  of  Jansen  were,  without  doubt,  the 
Jesuits.  To  the  history  of  this  Society  we  can  only  now  ad- 
vert in  a  very  cursory  manner.  It  may  appear  surprising 
that  an  order  so  powerful  and  politic  should  have  owed  its 
origin  to  such  a  person  as  Ignatius  Loyola,  a  Spanish  soldier : 
and  that  a  wound  in  the  leg,  which  this  hidalgo  received  at 
the  battle  of  Pampeluna,  should  have  issued  in  his  becoming 
the  founder  of  a  Society  which  has  embroiled  the  world  and 
the  Church.  But  in  fact,  Loyola,  though  the  originator  of 
the  sect,  is  not  entitled  to  the  honor,  or  rather  the  disgrace, 
of  organizing  its  constitution.  This  must  be  assigned  to  Lay- 
nez  and  Aquaviva,  the  two  generals  who  succeeded  him — 
men  as  superior  to  the  founder  of  the  Society  in  talents  as  he 
excelled  them  in  enthusiasm.  Ignatius  owed  his  success  to 
circumstances.  While  he  was  watching  his  arms  as  the 
knight-errant  of  the  Virgin,  in  her  chapel  at  Montserrat,  or 

p.  19.  This  author's  attempt  to  fix  the  charge  of  a  conspiracy  between 
Jansen  and  St.  Cyran  to  overturn  the  Church,  is  a  piece  of  special 
pleading,  bearing  on  its  face  its  own  refutation. 

*  The  followers  of  Jansen  were  not  more  charitable  than  he  in  their 
judgments  of  the  Reformed,  and  showed  an  equal  zeal  with  the  Jesuits 
to  persecute  them,  when,  they  had  it  in  their  power.  (Benoit,  Hist,  de 
I7  Edit  de  Nantes,  iii.  200.) 


XVi  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

squatting  within  his  cell  in  a  state  of  body  too  noisome  for 
human  contact,  and  of  mind  verging  on  insanity,  Luther  was 
making  Germany  ring  with  the  first  trumpet-notes  of  the  Ref- 
ormation. The  monasteries,  in  which  ignorance  had  so  long 
slumbered  in  the  lap  of  superstition,  were  awakened ;  but 
their  inmates  were  totally  unfit  for  doing  battle  on  the  new 
field  of  strife  that  had  opened  around  them.  Unwittingly,  in 
the  heat  of  his  fanaticism,  the  illiterate  Loyola  suggested  a 
line  of  policy  which,  matured  by  wiser  heads,  proved  more 
adapted  to  the  times.  Bred  in  the  court  and  the  camp,  he 
contrived  to  combine  the  finesse  of  the  one,  and  the  discipline 
of  the  other,  with  the  sanctity  of  a  religious  community ;  and 
proposed  that,  instead  of  the  lazy  routine  of  monastic  life, 
his  followers  should  actively  devote  themselves  to  the  educa- 
tion of  youth,  the  conversion  of  the  heathen,  and  the  sup- 
pression of  heresy.  Such  a  proposal,  backed  by  a  vow  of 
devotion  to  the  Holy  See,  commended  itself  to  the  pope  so 
highly  that,  in  1540,  he  confirmed  the  institution  by  a  bull, 
granted  it  ample  privileges,  and  appointed  Loyola  to  be  its 
first  general.  In  less  than  a  century,  this  sect,  which  as- 
sumed to  itself,  with  singular  arrogance,  the  name  of  "  The 
Society  of  Jesus,"  rose  to  be  the  most  enterprising  and  for- 
midable order  in  the  Romish  communion. 

Never  was  the  name  of  the  blessed  Jesus  more  grossly 
prostituted  than  when  applied  to  a  Society  which  is  certainly 
the  very  opposite,  in  spirit  and  character,  to  Him  who  was 
"  meek  and  lowly,"  "  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  and  separate 
from  sinners."  The  Jesuits  may  be  said  to  have  invented, 
for  their  own  peculiar  use,  an  entirely  new  system  of  ethics. 
In  place  of  the  divine  law,  they  prescribed,  as  the  rule  of 
their  conduct,  a  "  blind  obedience"  to  the  will  of  their  supe- 
riors, whom  they  are  bound  to  recognize  as  "  standing  in  the 
place  of  God,"  and  in  fulfilling  whose  orders  they  are  to  have 
no  more  will  of  their  own  "  than  a  corpse,  or  an  old  man's 
staff."  The  glory  of  God  they  identify  with  the  aggrandize- 
ment of  their  Society ;  and  holding  that  "  the  end  sanctifies 
the  means,"  they  scruple  at  no  means,  foul  or  fair,  which  they 


THE   JESUITS.  ZVll 

conceive  may  advance  such  an  end.*  The  supreme  power  is 
-  vested  in  the  general,  who  is  not  responsible  to  any  other  au- 
thority, civil  or  ecclesiastical.  A  system  of  mutual  espionage, 
and  a  secret  correspondence  with  head-quarters  at  Rome,  in 
which  everything  that  can,  in  the  remotest  degree,  affect  the 
interests  of  the  Society  is  made  known,  and  by  means  of 
which  the  whole  machinery  of  Jesuitism  can  be  set  in  motion 
at  once,  or  its  minutest  feelers  directed  to  any  object  at  pleas- 
ure, presents  the  most  complete  system  of  organization  in  the 
world.  Every  member  is  sworn,  by  secret  oath,  to  obey  the 
orders,  and  all  are  confederated  in  a  solemn  league  to  advance 
the  cause  of  the  Society.  It  has  been  denned  to  be  "  a  na- 
ked sword,  the  hiK  of  which  is  at  Rome."  Such  a  monstrous 
combination  could  not  fail  to  render  itself  obnoxious.  Con- 
stantly aiming  at  ascendency  in  the  Church,  in  which  it  is  an 
imperium  in  imperio,  the  Society  has  not  only  been  em- 
broiled in  perpetual  feuds  with  the  other  orders,  but  has  re- 
peatedly provoked  the  thunders  of  the  Vatican.  Ever  inter- 
meddling with  the  affairs  of  civil  governments,  with  allegiance 
to  which,  under  any  form,  its  principles  are  utterly  at  vari- 
ance, it  has  been  expelled  in  turn  from  almost  every  Euro- 
pean State,  as  a  political  nuisance.  But  Jesuitism  is  the  very 
soul  of  Popery  ;  both  have  revived  or  declined  together ;  and 
accordingly,  though  the  order  was  abolished  by  Clement 
XIV.  in  1775,  it  was  found  necessary  to  resuscitate  it  under 
Pius  VII.  in  1814;  and  the  Society  was  never  in  greater 
power,  nor  more  active  operation,  than  it  is  at  the  present 
moment.  It  boasts  of  immortality,  and,  in  all  probability,  it 
will  last  as  long  as  the  Church  of  Rome.  It  has  been  termed 
"  a  militia,  called  out  to  combat  the  Reformation,"  and  exhib- 
iting, as  it  does  to  this  day,  the  same  features  of  ambition, 
treachery,  and  intolerance,  it  seems  destined  to  fall  only  in 


*  Caeca  quadam  obedientia. —  Ut  Christum  Dominum  in  superiors 
quollbet  agnoscerc  studeatis. — Perinde  ac  si  cadaver  essent,  vel  similiter 
atque  senis  baculus.—Ad  majorem  Dei  gloriam  (Constit.  Jesuit,  pars 
vi.  cap.  1 ;  Ignat.  Epist.,  &c  ) 


Tv  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION. 

the  ruins  of  that  Church  of  whose  unchanging  spirit  it  is  the 
genuine  type  and  representative.* 

In  prosecuting  the  ends  of  their  institution,  the  Jesuits 
have  adhered  with  singular  fidelity  to  its  distinguishing  spirit. 
As  the  instructors  of  youth,  their  solicitude  has  ever  been 
less  to  enlarge  the  sphere  of  human  knowledge  than  to  bar 
out  what  might  prove  dangerous  to  clerical  domination  ;  they 
have  confined  their  pupils  to  mere  literary  studies,  which 
might  amuse  without  awakening  their  minds,  and  make  them 
subtle  dialecticians  without  disturbing  a  single  prejudice  of 
the  dark  ages.  As  missionaries,  they  have  been  much  more 
industrious  and  successful  hi  the  manual  labor  of  baptizing 
all  nations  than  in  teaching  them  the  Gospel.f  As  theologi- 
ans, they  have  uniformly  preferred  the  views  of  Molina ;  re- 
garding these,  if  not  as  more  agreeable  to  Scripture  and  right 
reason,  at  least  (to  use  the  language  of  a  late  writer)  as 
"more  consonant  with  the  common  sense  and  natural  feelings 
of  mankind."|  As  controversialists,  they  were  the  decided 
foes  of  all  reform  and  all  reformers,  from  within  or  without 
the  Church.  As  moralists,  they  cultivated,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected, the  loosest  system  of  casuistry,  to  qualify  themselves 
for  directing  the  consciences  of  high  and  low,  and  becoming, 
through  the  confessional,  the  virtual  governors  of  mankind. 
In  all  these  departments  they  have,  doubtless,  produced  men 
of  abilities ;  but  the  very  means  which  they  employed  to  ag- 

*  Balde,  whom  the  Jesuits  honor  in  their  schools  as  a  modern  Horace, 
thus  celebrates  the  longevity  of  the  Society,  in  his  Carmen  Seculare  de 
Societatc  Jesu,  1640:— 

"  Profuit  quisquis  voluit  nocere. 
Cuncta  subsident  sociis ;  ubique 
Exules  vivunt,  et  ubique  cives ! 
Sternimus  victi,  supreamus  imi, 
Surgimus  plures  toties  cadendo." 

t  Their  famous  missionary,  Francis  Xavier,  whom  they  canonized, 
was  ignorant  of  a  single  word  in  the  languages  df  the  Indians  whom 
he  professed  to  evangelize.  He  employed  a  hand-bell  to  summon  the 
natives  around  him ;  and  the  poor  savages,  mistaking  him  for  one  of 
their  learned  Brahmans,  he  baptized  them  until  his  arm  was  exhausted 
with  the  task,  and  boasted  of  every  one  he  baptized  as  a  regenerated 
convert ! 

*  Macintosh,  Hist,  of  England,  ii.  353. 


CASUISTRY.  XIX 

grandize  the  Society  have  tended  to  dwarf  the  intellectual 
growth  of  its  individual  members :  and  hence,  while  it  is  true 
that  "  the  Jesuits  had  to  boast  of  the  most  vigorous  contro- 
versialists, the  most  polite  scholars,  the  most  refined  court- 
iers, and  the  most  flexible  casuists  of  their  age,"*  it  has  been 
commonly  remarked,  that  they  have  never  produced  a  single 
great  man. 

Casuistry,  the  art  in  which  the  Jesuits  so  much  excelled, 
is,  strictly  speaking,  that  branch  of  theology  which  treats  of 
cases  of  conscience,  and  originally  consisted  in  nothing  more' 
than  an  application  of  the  general  precepts  of  Scripture  to 
particular  cases.  The  ancient  casuists,  so  long  as  they  con- 
fined themselves  to  the  simple  rules  of  the  Gospel,  were  at 
least  harmless,  and  their  ingenious  writings  are  still  found 
useful  in  cases  of  ecclesiastical  discipline ;  but  they  gradu- 
ally introduced  into  the  science  of  morals  the  metaphysical 
jargon  of  the  schools,  and  instead  of  aiming  at  making  men 
moral,  contented  themselves  with  disputing  about  morality.f 
The  main  source  of  the  aberrations  of  casuistry  lay  in  the 
unscriptural  dogma  of  priestly  absolution — in  the  right 
claimed  by  man  to  forgive  sin,  as  a  transgression  of  the  law 
of  God ;  and  the  arbitrary  distinction  between  sins  as  venial 
and  mortal — a  distinction  which  assigns  to  the  priest  the  pre- 
rogative, and  imposes  on  him  the  obligation,  of  drawing  the 
critical  line,  or  fixing  a  kind  of  tariff  on  human  actions,  and 
apportioning  penance  or  pardon,  as  the  case  may  seem  to  re- 
quire. In  their  desperate  attempt  to  define  the  endless  forms 
of  depravity  on  which  they  were  called  to  adjudicate,  or 
which  the  pruriency  of  the  cloister  suggested  to  the  imagi- 
nation, the  casuists  sank  deeper  into  the  mire  at  every  step ; 
and  their  productions,  at  length,  resembled  the  common  sew- 
ers of  a  city,  which,  when  exposed,  become  more  pestiferous 

*  Macintosh,  Hist,  of  England,  ii.  357. 

f  Augustine  himself  is  chargeable  with  having  been  the  first  to  intro- 
duce the  scholastic  mode  of  treating  morality  in  the  form  of  trifling 
questions,  more  fitted  to  gratify  curiosity,  and  display  acumen,  than  to 
edify  or  enlighten.  His  example  was  followed,  and  miserably  abused, 
liy  the  moralists  of  succeeding  ages  (Buddei  Isag>ge,  vol.  i.  p.  5TP5.) 


XX  .  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

than  the  filth  which  they  were  meant  to  remove.  Even  un- 
der the  best  management,  such  a  system  was  radically  bad ; 
in  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits  it  became  unspeakably  worse. 
To  their  "  modern  casuists,"  as  they  were  termed,  must  we 
ascribe  the  invention  of  probabilism,  mental  reservation,  and 
the  direction  of  the  intention,  which,  have  been  sufficiently  ex- 
plained and  rebuked  in  the  Provincial  Letters,  We  shall 
only  remark  here,  that  the  actions  to  which  these  principles 
were  applied  were  not  only  such  as  have  been  termed  indif- 
ferent, and  the  criminality  of  which  may  be  doubtful,  or  de- 
pendent on  the  intention  of  the  actor :  the  probabilism  of  the 
Jesuits  was,  in  fact,  a  systematic  attempt  to  legalize  crime, 
under  the  sanction  of  some  grave  doctor,  who  had  found  out 
some  excuse  for  it ;  and  their  theory  of  mental  reservations, 
and  direction  of  the  intention,  was  equally  employed  to  sanc- 
tify the  plainest  violations  of  the  divine  law.  Casuistry,  it  is 
true,  has  generally  vibrated  betwixt  the  extremes  of  imprac- 
ticable severity  and  contemptible  indulgence ;  but  the  charge, 
against  the  Jesuits  was,  not  that  they  softened  the  rigors  of 
ascetic  virtue,  but  that  they  propagated  principles  which 
sapped  the  foundation  of  all  moral  obligation.  "  They  are  a 
people,"  said  Boileau,  "  who  lengthen  the  creed  and  shorten 
the  decalogue." 

Such  was  the  community  with  which  the  Bishop  of  Ypres 
ventured  to  enter  the  lists.  Already  had  he  incurred  their 
resentment  by  opposing  their  interests  in  some  political  nego- 
tiations ;  and  by  publishing  his  "  Mars  Gallicus,"  he  had 
mortally  offended  their  patron,  Cardinal  Richelieu ;  but, 
strange  to  say,  his  deadly  sin  against  the  Society  was  a  pos- 
thumous work.  Jansen  was  cut  off  by  the  plague,  May  8, 
1638.  Shortly  after  his  decease,  his  celebrated  work,  enti- 
tled "  Augustinus,"  was  published  by  his  friends  Fromond 
and  Galen,  to  whom  he  had  committed  it  on  his  death-bed. 
To  the  preparation  of  this  work  he  may  be  said  to  have  de- 
voted his  life.  It  occupied  him  twenty-two  years,  during 
which,  we  are  told,  he  had  ten  times  read  through  the  works 
of  Auguetine  (ten  volumes,  folio !)  and  thirty  times  collated 


AUGHTSTINUS.  XXI 

those  passages  -which  related  to  Pelagianism.*  The  book  it- 
self, as  the  title  imports,  was  little  more  than  a  digest  of  the 
•writings  of  Augustine  on  the  subject  of  grace.f  It  was  divi- 
ded  into  three  parts ;  the  first  being  a  refutation  of  Pelagian- 
ism,  the  second  demonstrating  the  spiritual  disease  of  man, 
and  the  third  exhibiting  the  remedy  provided.  The  sincerity 
of  Jansen's  love  to  truth  is  beyond  question,  though  we  may 
be  permitted  to  question  the  form  in  which  it  was  evinced. 
The  radical  defect  of  the  work  is,  that  instead  of  resorting  to 
the  living  fountain  of  inspiration,  he  confined  himself  to  the 
cistern  of  tradition.  Enamored  with  the  excellences  of  Au- 
gustine, he  adopted  even  his  inconsistencies.  With  the  for- 
mer he  challenged  the  Jesuits  ;  with  the  latter  he  warded  off 
the  charge  of  heresy.  As  a  controvertist,  he  is  chargeable 
with  prejudice,  rather  than  dishonesty.  As  a  reformer,  he 
wanted  the  independence  of  mind  necessary  to  success.  In- 
stead of  standing  boldly  forward  on  the  ground  of  Scripture, 
he  attempted,  with  more  prudence  than  wisdom,  to  shelter 
himself  behind  the  venerable  name  of  Augustine. 

If  by  thus  preferring  the  shield  of  tradition  to  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit,  Jansen  expected  to  out-manoeuvre  the  Jesuits, 
he  had  mistaken  his  policy.  "  Augustinus,"  though  profess- 
edly written  to  revive  the  doctrine  of  Augustine,  was  felt  by 
the  Society  as,  in  reality,-  an  attack  upon  them,  under  the 
name  of  Pelagians.  To  conscious  delinquency,  tae  language 
of  implied  censure  is  ever  more  galling  than  formal  impeach- 
ment. Jansen's  portrait  of  Augustine  was  but  too  faithfully 
executed ;  and  the  disciples  of  Loyola  could  not  fail  to  see 
how  far  they  had  departed  from  the  faith  of  the  ancient 
Church ;  but  the  discovery  only  served  to  incense  them  at 
the  man  who  had  exhibited  their  defection  before  the  world. 
The  approbation  which  the  book  received  from  forty  learned 
doctors,  and  the  rapture  with  which  it  was  welcomed  by  the 


*  Lancelot.  Tour  to  Alet,  p.  !73;  Leydecker.  p.  122. 

t  The  whole  title  was:  "  Augustinus  Cornelii  Junsenii  episcopi.  sei 
doctrina  sancti  Augustini  de  humanae  naturae  sanctitate  aegritudin» 
medica,  adversus  Pelagianos  et  Massilienses."  Louvain,  1640. 

ft 


Xxii  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

friends  of  the  author,  only  added  to  their  exasperation.  The 
•whole  efforts  of  the  Society  were  summoned  to  defeat  its 
influence.  Balked  by  th  j  hand  of  death  of  their  revenge  on 
the  person  of  the  author,  they  vented  it  even  on  his  remains. 
By  -a  decree  of  the  pope,  procured  through  their  instigation, 
a  splendid  monument,  which  had  been  erected  over  the  grave 
of  the  learned  and  much-loved  bishop,  was  completely  de- 
molished, that,  in  the  words  of  his  Holiness,  "  the  memory 
of  Jansen  might  perish  from  the  earth."  It  is  even  said  that 
his  body  was  torn  from  its  resting-place,  and  thrown  into 
some  unknown  receptacle.*  His  literary  remains  were  no  less 
severely  handled.  Nicholas  Cornet,  a  member  of  the  Society, 
after  incredible  pains,  extracted  the  heretical  poison  of  "  Au- 
gustinus,"  in  the  form  of  seven  propositions,  which  were  after- 
wards reduced  to  five.  These  having  been  submitted  to  the 
judgment  of  Innocent  X.,  were  condemned  by  that  pontiff  in 
a  bull  dated  31st  May,  1653.  This  decision,  so  far  from  re- 
storing peace,  awakened  a  new  controversy.  The  Jansenists, 
as  the  admirers  of  Jansen  now  began  to  be  named  by  their 
opponents,  while  they  professed  acquiescence  in  the  judgment 
of  the  pope,  denied  that  these  propositions  were  to  be  found 
in  "  Augustinus."  The  succeeding  pope,  Alexander  VII., 
who  was  still  more  favorable  to  the  Jesuits,  declared  formally, 
in  a  bull  dated  1657,  "that  the  five  propositions  were  cer- 
tainly taken  from  the  book  of  Jansenius,  and  had  been  con- 
demned in  the  sense  of  that  author."  But  the  Jansenists 
were  ready  to  meet  him  on  this  point ;  they  replied,  that  a 
decision  of  this  kind  overstepped  the  limits  of  papal  author- 
ity, and  that  the  pope's  infallibility  did  not  extend  to  a  judg- 
ment of  facts.f 

The  reader  may  be  curious  to  know  something  more  about 
these  famous  five  propositions,  condemned  by  the  pope,  which, 
in  fact,  may  be  said  to  have  given  occasion  to  the  Provincial 
Letters.  They  were  as  follows  : — 

*  Leydecker,  p.  132;  Lance  5t,  p.  180. 

t  Ranke,  Hist,  of  tt.i  Popes  vol.  iii.  143 ;  Abbe  Du  Mas,  Hist.  de» 
Cinq  Propositions,  p.  4£, 


THE    FIVE    PROPOSITIONS.  XX1U 

1.  There  are  divine  precepts  which  good  men,  though  wil- 
ling, are  absolutely  unable  to  obey. 

2.  No  person,  in  this  corrupt  state  of  nature,  can  resist  the 
influence  of  divine  grace. 

3.  In  order  to  render  human  actions  meritorious,  or  other- 
wise, it  is  not  requisite  that  they  be  exempt  from  necessity, 
but  only  free  from  constraint. 

4.  The  semi-Pelagian  heresy  consisted  in  allowing  the  hu-  • 
man  will  to  be  endued  with  a  power  of  resisting  grace,  or  of 
complying  with  its  influence. 

5.  Whoever  says  that  Christ  died  or  shed  his  blood  for  all 
mankind,  is  a  semi-Pelagian. 

The  Jansenists,  in  their  subsequent  disputes  on  these  prop- 
ositions, contended  that  they  were  ambiguously  expressed, 
and  that  they  might  be  understood  in  three  different  senses — 
a  Calvinistic,  a  Pelagian,  and  a  Catholic  or  Augustinian 
sense.  In  the  first  two  senses  they  disclaimed  them,  in  the 
last  they  approved  and  defended  them.  Owing  to  the  ex- 
treme aversion  of  the  party  to  Calvinism,  while  they  substan- 
tially held  the  same  system  under  the  name  of  Augustinian- 
ism,  it  becomes  extremely  difficult  to  convey  an  intelligible 
idea  of  their  theological  views.  On  the  first  proposition,  for 
example,  while  they  disclaimed  what  they  term  the  Calvinis- 
tic sense,  namely,  that  the  best  of  men  are  liable  to  sin  in  all 
that  they  do,  they  equally  disclaim  the  Pelagian  sentiment, 
that  all  men  have  a  general  sufficient  grace,  at  all  times,  for 
the  discharge  of  duty,  subject  to  free  will ;  and  they  strenu- 
ously maintained  that,  without  efficacious  grace,  constantly 
vouchsafed,  we  can  do  nothing  spiritually  good.  In  regard 
to  the  resistibility  of  grace,  they  seem  to  have  held  that  the 
will  of  man  might  always  resist  the  influence  of  grace,  if  it 
chose  to  do  so ;  but  that  grace  would  effectually  prevent  it 
from  so  choosing.  And  with  respect  to  redemption,  they  ap- 
pear to  have  compromised  the  matter,  by  holding  that  Christ 
died  for  all,  so  as  that  all  might  be  partakers  of  the  grace  of 
justification  by  the  merits  of  Lis  death ;  but  they  denied  that 


XXIV  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

Christ  died  for  each  man  in  particular,  so  as  to  secure  his 
final  salvation  ;  in  this  sense,  he  died  for  the  elect  only. 

Were  this  the  proper  place,  it  would  be  easy  to  show  that, 
in  the  leading  points  of  his  theology,  Jansen  did  not  differ 
from  Calvin,  so  much  as  he  misunderstood  Calvinism.  The 
Calvinists,  for  example,  never  held,  as  they  are  represented 
in  the  Provincial  Letters,*  "  that  we  have  not  the  power  of 
resisting  grace."  So  far  from  this,  they  held  that  fallen  man 
could  not  but  resist  the  grace  of  God.  They  preferred,  there- 
fore, the  term  "invincible,"  as  applied  to  grace.  In  short, 
they  held  exactly  the  victrix  delectatio  of  Augustine,  by  which 
the  will  of  man  is  sweetly  but  effectually  inclined  to  comply 
with  the  will  of  God.f  On  the  subject  of  necessity  and  con- 
straint their  views  are  precisely  similar.  Nor  can  they  be 
considered  as  differing  essentially  in  their  views  of  the  death 
of  Christ,  as  these,  at  least,  were  given  by  Jansen,  who  ac- 
knowledges in  his  "  Augustinus,"  that,  "  according  to  St. 
Augustine,  Jesus  Christ  did  not  die  for  all  mankind."  It  is 
certain  that  neither  Augustine  nor  Jansen  would  have  sub- 
scribed to  the  views  of  grace  and  redemption  held  by  many 
who,  in  our  day,  profess  evangelical  views.  Making  allow- 
ance for  the  different  position  of  the  parties,  it  is  very  plain 
that  the  dispute  between  Augustine  and  Pelagius,  Jansen 
and  Molina,  Calvin  and  Arminius,  was  substantially  one  and 
the  same.  At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  granted  that  on  the 
great  point  of  justification  by  faith,  Jansen  went  widely 
astray  from  the  truth ;  and  in  the  subsequent  controversial 
writings  of  the  party,  especially  when  arguing  against  the 
Protestants,  this  departure  became  still  more  strongly  marked, 
and  more  deplorably  manifested.^ 

*  Letter  xviii.  pp.  310-313. 

f  Witsii  (Econom.  Feed.,  lib.  iii. ;  Turret.  Theol.,  Elenct.  xv.  quest. 
4;  De  Moor  Comment,  iv.  49G;  Mestrezat  Serai,  sur  Rom.,  viii.  274. 

^  I  refer  here  particularly  to  Arnauld's  treatise,  entitled  "  Renverse- 
ment  de  la  MoraVe  de  Jesus  Christ  par  les  Calvinistes,"  which  was  an- 
swered by  Jurieu  in  his  "  Justification  de  la  Morale  des  Refor.-nez."  1685, 
by  M.  Merlat,  and  others.  Jurieu  has  st\pwn  at  great  length,  and  with 
a  severity  for  which  he  had  too  much  provocation,  that  Arnauld  and  his 
friends,  in  their  violent  tirades  against  the  Reformed,  neither  acted  in 


The  revenge  of  the  Jesuits  did  not  stop  at  procuring  the 
condemnation  of  Jansen's  book  ;  it  aimed  at  his  living  follow- 
ers. Among  these  none  was  more  conspicuous  for  virtue  and 
influence  than  the  Abbe  de  St.  Cyran,  who  was  known  to 
have  shared  his  counsels,  and  even  aided  in  the  preparation 
of  his  obnoxious  work.  While  Jansen  labored  to  restore  the 
theoretical  doctrines  of  Augustine,  St.  Cyran  was  ambitious 
to  reduce  them  to  practice.  In  pursuance  of  the  moral  sys- 
tem of  that  father,  he  taught  the  renunciation  of  the  world, 
and  the  total  absorption  of  the  soul  in  the  love  of  God.  His 
religious  fervor  led  him  into  some  extravagances.  He  is  said 
to  have  laid  some  claim  to  a  species  of  inspiration,  and  to 
have  anticipated  for  the  Saviour  some  kind  of  temporal  domin- 
ion, in  which  the  saints  alone  would  be  entitled  to  the  wealth 
and  dignities  of  the  world.*  But  his  piety  appears  to  have 
been  sincere,  and,  what  is  more  surprising,  his  love  to  the 
Scriptures  was  such  that  he  not  only  lived  in  the  daily  study 
of  them  himself,  but  earnestly  enforced  it  on  all  his  disciples. 
He  recommended  them  to  study  the  Scriptures  on  their  knees. 
"No  means  of  conversion,"  he  would  say,  "can  be  more 
apostolic  than  the  Word  of  'God.  Every  word  in  Scripture 
deserves  to  be  weighed  more  attentively  than  gold.  The 
Scriptures  wen;  penned  by  a  direct  ray  of  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
the  fathers  only  by  a  reflex  ray  emanating  therefrom."  His 
whole  character  and  appearance  corresponded  with  his  doc- 
trine. "His  simple  mortified  air,  and  his  humble  garb 
formed  a  striking  contrast  with  the  awful  sanctity  of  his 
countenance,  and  his  native  lofty  dignity  of  manner. "f  Pos- 
sessing that  force  of  character  by  which  men  of  strong  minds 
silently  but  surely  govern  others,  his  proselytes  soon  in- 
creased, and  he  became  the  nucleus  of  a  new  class  of  re- 
formers. 

St.  Cyran  was  soon  called  to  preside  over  the  renowned 


good  faith,  nor  in  consistency  with  the  sentiments  of  their  much  admired 
Trailers  Augustine  and  Jansen. 

*  Fontaine  M-jnioirea  i  <JOO;  Mosheirn   Fxjcl.  Hist ,  cent.  xvii.  P. 

4  Lancelot,  p.  123. 

2 


XXV  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

monastery  of  Port-Royal.  Two  houses  went^  under  this 
name,  though  forming  one  abbey.  One  of  these  was  called 
Port-Royal  des  Champs,  and  was  situated  in  a  gloomy  forest, 
about  six  leagues  from  Paris ;  but  this  having  been  found  an 
unhealthy  situation,  the  nun«  were  removed  for  some  time  to 
another  house  in  Paris,  which  went  under  the  name  "f  Port- 
Royal  de  Paris.  The  Abbey  of  Port-Roj'al  was  one  of  the 
most  ancient  belonging  to  the  order  of  Citeaux,  having  been 
founded  by  Eudes  de  Sully,  bishop  of  Paris,  in  1204.  It  was 
placed  originally  under  the  rigorous  discipline  of  St.  Bene- 
dict, but  in  course  of  time  fell,  like  most  other  monasteries, 
into  a  state  of  the  greatest  relaxation.  In  1602,  a  new  ab- 
bess was  appointed  in  the  person  of  Maria  Angelica  Arnauld, 
sister  of  the  famous  Arnauld,  then  a  mere  child,  scarcely 
eleven  years  old !  The  nuns,  promising  themselves  n  long 
period  of  unbounded  liberty,  rejoiced  at  this  appointment. 
But  their  joy  was  not  of  long  duration.  The  young  abbess, 
at  first,  indeed,  thought  of  nothing  but  amusement ;  but  at 
the  age  of  seventeen  a  change  came  over  her  spirit.  A  cer- 
tain Capuchin,  wearied,  it  is  said,  or  more  probably  disgust- 
ed, with  the  monastic  life,  had  been  requested  by  the  nuns, 
who  were  not  aware  of  his  character,  to  preach  before  them. 
The  preacher,  equally  ignorant  of  his  audience,  and  supposing 
them  to  be  eminently  pious  ladies,  delivered  an  affecting  dis- 
course, pitched  on  the  loftiest  key  of  devotion,  which  left  an 
impression  on  the  mind  of  Angelica  never  to  be  effaced.  She 
set  herself  to  reform  her  establishment,  and  carried  it  into 
effect  with  a  determination  and  self-denial  quite  beyond  her 
years.  This  "  reformation,"  so  highly  lauded  by  her  pane- 
gyrists, consisted  chiefly  in  restoring  the  austere  discipline  of 
St.  Benedict,  and  other  severities  practised  in  the  earlier 
ages,  the  details  of  which  would  be  neither  edifying  nor 
agreeable.  The  substitution  of  coarse  serge  in  place  of  linen 
as  underclothing,  and  dropping  melted  wax  on  the  bare  arms, 
may  be  taken  as  specimens  of  the  reformation  introduced  by 
Mere  Angelique.  In  these  mortifying  exercises  the  abbess 
showed  an  example  to  all  the  rest.  She  chose  as  her  dormi- 


PORT-ROYAL ITS  DEVOTION. 

tory  the  filthiest  cell  in  the  convent,  a  place  infested  with 
toads  and  vermin,  in  which  she  found  the  highest  delight, 
declaring  that  she  "  seemed  transported  to  the  grotto  of 
Bethlehem."  The  same  rigid  denial  of  pleasure  was  extended 
to  her  food,  her  dress,  her  whole  occupations.  Clothed  her- 
self in  the  rudest  dress  she  could  procure,  nothing  gave  her 
greater  offence  than  to  see  in  her  nuns  any  approach  to  the 
fashions  of  the  world,  even  in  the  adjustment  of  the  coarse 
black  serge,  with  the  scarlet  cross,  which  formed  their  hum- 
ble apparel.*  Yet,  in  the  midst  of  all  this  "  voluntary  hu- 
mility," her  heart  seems  to  have  been  turned  mainly  to  the 
Saviour.  It  was  Jesus  Christ  whom  she  aimed  at  adoring  in 
the  worship  she  paid  to  "  the  sacrament  of  the  altar."  And 
in  a  book  of  devotion,  composed  by  her  for  private  use,  she 
gave  expression  to  sentiments  too  much  savoring  of  undivi- 
ded affection  to  Christ  to  escape  the  censure  of  the  Church. 
It  was  dragged  to  light  and  condemned  at  Rome.f  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that,  under  the  direction  of  M.  de  St. 
Cyran,  her  religious  sentiments,  as  well  as  those  of  her  com- 
munity, became  much  more  enlightened.  Her  firmness  in 
resisting  subscription  to  the  formulary  and  condemning  Jan- 
sen,  in  spite  of  the  most  cruel  and  unmanly  persecution,  and 
the  piety  and  faith  she  manifested  on  her  death-bed,  when, 
in  the  midst  of  exquisite  suffering,  and  in  the  absence  of  the 
rites  which  her  persecutors  denied  her,  she  expired  in  the 
full  assurance  of  salvation  through  the  merits  of  the  only 
Saviour,  form  one  of  the  most  interesting  chapters  in  the 
martyrology  of  the  Church. 

But  St.  Cyran  aimed  at  higher  objects  than  the  manage- 
ment of  a  nunnery.  His  energetic  mind  planned  a  system 
of  education,  in  which,  along  with  the  elements  of  learning, 
the  youth  might  be  imbued  with  early  piety.  Attracted  by 
his  fame,  several  learned  men,  some  of  them  of  rank  And  for- 

*  Me  moires  pour  servir  a  1'Histoire  de  Port-Royal,  vol.  i.  pp.  35,  57, 

t  Ih..  p.  456.  The  title  of  this  work  was,  "  The  Sucre.  ZJhaplet  of 
the  Holy  Sacrament." 


HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION. 

tune,  fled  to  enjoy  at  Port- Royal  des  Champs  a  sacred  retreat 
from  the  wo.'ld.  This  community,  which  differed  from  a 
monastery  in  not  being  bound  by  any  vows,  settled  in  a  farm 
adjoining  the  convent,  called  Les  Granges.  The  names  of 
Arnauld,  D'Andilly,  Nicole,  Le  Maitre,  Sacy,*  Fontaine, 
Pascal,  and  others,  have  conferred  immortality  on  the  spot. 
The  system  pursued  in  this  literary  hermitage  was,  in  many 
respects,  deserving  of  praise.  The  time  of  the  recluses  was 
divided  between  devotional  and  literary  pursuits,  relieved  by 
agricultural  and  mechanical  labors.  The  Scriptures,  and 
other  books  of  devotion,  were  translated  into  the  vernacular 
language ;  and  the  result  was,  the  singular  anomaly  of  a 
Roman  Catholic  community  distinguished  for  the  devout  and 
diligent  study  of  the  Bible.  Protestants  they  certainly  were 
not,  either  in  spirit  or  in  practice.  Firm  believers  in  the  in- 
fallibility of  their  Church,  and  fond  devotees  in  the  observ- 
ance of  her  rites,  they  held  it  a  'point  of  merit  to  yield  a  blind 
obedience,  in  matters  of  faith,  to  the  dogmas  of  Rome.  None 
were  more  hostile  to  Protestantism.  St.  Cyrau,  it  is  said, 
would  never  open  a  Protestant  book,  even  for  the  purpose  of 
refuting  it,  without  first  making  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  it, 
to  exorcise  the  evil  spirit  which  he  believed  to  lurk  within 
its  pages.f  From  no  community  did  there  emanate  more 
learned  apologies  for  Rome  than  from  Port-Royal.  Still,  it 
must  be  owned,  that  in  attachment  to  the  doctrines  of  grace, 
EO  far  as  they  went,  and  in  the  exhibition  of  the  Christian 
virtues,  attested  by  their  sufferings,  lives,  and  writings,  the 
Port- Royalists,  including  under  this  name  both  the  nuns  and 
recluses,  greatly  surpassed  many  Protestant  communities. 
Their  piety,  indeed,  partook  of  the  failings  which  have  al- 
ways characterized  the  religion  of  the  cloister.  It  seems  to 
have  hovered  between  superstition  and  mysticism.  Afraid 
to  fight  against  the  world,  they  fled  from  it ;  and,  forgetting 
that  our  Saviour  was  driven  into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempt* 

*  Sacy.  or  Saci,  was  the  inverted  name  of  Isaac  Le  Maitre,  celebrated 
for  his  translation  of  the  Bible. 
t  Modiri.n.  Ec'ffl.  HiA,  cwit.  xvii.  $2. 


PORT-ROYAL ITS  CHARACTERISTICS.  XXIX 

ed  of  the  devil,  they  retired  to  a  wilderness  to  avoid  tempta- 
tion. Half  conscious  of  the  hollowness  of  the  ceremonial 
they  practised,  thry  sought  to  graft  on  its  dead  stock  the  vi- 
talities of  the  Christian  faith.  In  their  hands,  penance  was 
sublimated  into  the  symbol  c."  penitential  sorrow,  and  the 
mass  into  a  spiritual  service,  the  benefit  of  which  depended 
on  the  preparation  of  the  heart  of  the  worshipper.  In  their 
eyes,  the  priest  was  but  a  suggestive  emblem  of  the  Saviour  ; 
and  to  them  the  altar,  with  its  crucifix  and  bleeding  image, 
served  only  as  a  platform  on  which  they  might  obtain  a  more 
advantageous  view  of  Calvary.  Transferring  to  the  Church 
of  Rome  the  attributes  of  the  Church  of  God,  and  regarding 
her  still,  in  spite  of  her  eclipse  and  disfigurement,  as  of  one 
spirit,  and  even  of  one  body,  with  Christ,  infallible  and  im- 
mortal, they  worshipped  the  fond  creation  of  their  own  fancy. 
At  the  same  time,  they  attempted  to  revive  the  doctrine  of 
religious  abstraction,  or  the  absorption  of  the  soul  in  Deity, 
and  the  total  renouncement  of  everything  in  the  shape  of 
sensual  enjoyment,  which  afterwards  distinguished  the  mys- 
tics of  the  Continent.  Even  in  their  literary  recreations, 
while  they  acquired  an  elegance  of  style  which  marked 
a  new  era  in  the  literature  of  France,  they  betrayed  their 
ascetic  spirit.  Poetry  was  only  admissible  when  clothed  in 
a  devotional  garb.  It  was  by  stealth  that  Racine,  who  stud- 
ied at  Port-Royal,  indulged  his  poetic  vein  in  the  profane 
pieces  which  afterwards  gave  him  celebrity.  And  yet  it  is 
candid  to  admit,  that  the  mortifications  in  which  this  amiable 
fraternity  engaged,  consisted  rather  in  the  exclusion  of  pleas- 
ure than  the  infliction  of  pain,  and  that  the  object  aimed  at 
in  these  austerities  was  not  so  much  to  merit  heaven  as  to 
attain  an  ideal  perfection  on  earth.  Port-Royalism,  in  short, 
was  Popery  in  its  mildest  type,  as  Jesuitism  is  Popery  in  its 
perfection  ;  and  had  it  been  possible  to  present  that  system 
in  a  form  calculated  to  disarm  prejudice  and  to  cover  its  na- 
tive deformities,  the 'task  might  have  been  achieved  by  the 
pious  devotees  of  Les  Granges.  But  the  same  merciful  Prov- 
idence which,  for  the  preservation  of  the  human  species,  has 


XXX  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

furnished  the  snake  with  his  rattle,  and  taught  the  lion  to 
"  roar  for  his  prey,"  has"  so  ordered  it  that  the  Romish 
Church  should  betray  her  real  character,  in  order  that  his 
people  might  "come  out  of  her,  and  not  be  partakers  of  her 
sins,  that  they  receive  not  of  her  plagues."  The  whole  sys- 
tem adopted  at  Port-Royal  was  regarded,  from  the  com- 
mencement, with  extreme  jealousy  by  the  authorities  of  that 
Church  ;  the  schools  were  soon  dispersed,  and  the  Jesuits 
never  rested  till  they  had  destroyed  every  vestige  of  the  ob- 
noxious establishment. 

The  enemies  of  Pout-Royal  have  attempted  to  show  that 
St.  Cyran  and  his  associates  had  formed  a  deep-laid  plot  for 
overturning  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  From  time  to  time, 
down  to  the  present  day,  works  have  appeared,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Jesuits,  in  which  this  charge  is  reiterated ; 
and  the  old  calumnies  against  the  sect  are  revived — a  period- 
ical trampling  on  the  ashes  of  the  poor  Jansenists  (after  hav- 
ing accomplished  their  ruin  two  hundred  years  ago),  which 
reminds  one  of  nothing  so  much  as  the  significant  grinning  and 
yelling  with  which  the  modern  Jews  celebrate  to  this  day  the 
downfal  of  Haman  the  Agagite.*  In  one  point  only  could 
their  assailants  find  room  to  question  their  orthodoxy — the 
supremacy  of  the  pope.  Here,  certainly,  they  were  led,  more 
from  circumstances  than  from  inclination,  to  lean  to  the  side 
of  the  Gallican  liberties.  But  even  Jansen  himself,  after 
spending  a  lifetime  on  his  "  Augustinus,"  and  leaving  it  be- 
hind him  as  a  sacred  legacy,  abandoned  himself  and  his  trea- 
tise to  the  judgment  of  the  pope.  The  following  are  his 
words,  dictated  by  him  half  an  hour  before  his  death:  "I 
feel  that  it  will  be  difficult  to  alter  anything.  Yet  if  the  Ro- 
mish see  should  wish  anything  to  be  altered,  I  am  her  obedi- 
ent son ;  and  to  that  Church  in  which  I  have  always  lived, 
even  to  this  bed  of  death,  I  will  prove  obedient.  This  is  my 
last  will."  The  same  sentiment  is  expressed  by  Pascal,  in  one 

*  We  may  refer  particularly  to  Petitot  in  his  Collection  des  Meraoires, 
torn,  xxxiii..  Paris,  1824;  and  to  a  History  of  the  Company  of  Jesus  by 
J.  Cretineau-Joly,  Paris,  1815.  With  high  pretensions  to  impartiality, 
these  works  abound  with  the  most  glaring  specimens  of  special  pleading. 


PORT-ROYAL ITS   ENEMIES.  XXH 

of  his  letters.  Alas !  how  sad  is  the  predicament  in  which, 
the  Church  of  Rome  places  her  conscientious  votaries  !  Both 
of  these  excellent  men  were  as  firmly  persuaded,  no  doubt,  of 
the  faith  which  they  taught,  as  of  the  facts  which  came  un- 
der their  observation ;  and  yet  they  held  themselves  bound 
to  cast  theirN  religious  convictions  at  the  feet  of  a  fellow-mor- 
tal, notoriously  under  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits,  and  pz-o- 
fessed  themselves  ready,  at  a  signal  from  Rome,  to  renounce 
what  they  held  as  divine  truth,  and  to  embrace  what  they 
regarded  as  damnable  error !  A  spectacle  more  painful  and 
piteous  can  hardly  be  imagined  than  that  of  such  men  strug- 
gling between  the  dictates  of  conscience,  and  the  night-mare 
of  that  "  strong  delusion,"  which  led  them  to  "  believe  a  lie." 
In  every  feature  that  distinguished  the  Port-Royalists,  they 
stood  opposed  to  the  Jesuits.  In  theology  they  were  antip- 
odes— in  learning  they  were  rivals.  The  schools  of  Port- 
Royal  already  eclipsed  those  of  the  Jesuits,  whose  policy  it 
has  always  been  to  monopolize  education,  under  the  pretext 
of  charity.  But  the  Jansenisls  might  have  been  allowed  to 
retain  their  peculiar  tenets,  had  they  not  touched  the  idol 
of  every  Jesuit,  "  the  glory  of  the  Society,"  by  supplanting 
them  in  the  confessional.  The  priests  connected  with  Port- 
Royal,  from  their  primitive  simplicity  of  manners  and  severity 
of  morals,  and,  above  all,  from  their  spiritual  Christianity, 
acquired  a  popularity  which  could  not  fail  to  give  mortal 
offence  to  the  Society,  who  then  ruled  the  councils  both  of 
the  Church  and  the  nation.  Nothing  less  than  the  annihila- 
tion of  the  whole  party  would  satisfy  their  vengeful  purpose. 
In  this  nefarious  design  they  were  powerfully  aided  by  Car- 
dinal Richelieu,  and  by  Louis  XIV.,  a  prince  who,  though  yet 
a  mere  youth,  was  entirely  under  Jesuitical  influence  in  mat- 
ters of  religion  ;  and  who,  having  resolved  to  extirpate  Prot- 
estantism, could  not  well  endure  the  existence  of  a  sect  within 
the  Church,  which  seemed  to  favor  the  Reformation  by  ex- 
posing the  corruptions  of  the  clergy.* 

*  Voltaire,  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV.,  t.  ii. 


XXX11  HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION. 

To  effect  their  object,  St.  Cyran,  the  leader  and  ornament 
of  the  party,  required  to  be  disposed  of.  He  was  accused 
of  various  articles  of  heresy  ;  and  Cardinal  Richelieu  at  once 
gratified  his  party  resentment  and  saved  himself  the  trouble  of 
controversy,  by  immuring  him  in  the  dungeon  of  Vincennes. 
In  this  prison  St.  Cyran  languished  for  five  years,  and  sur- 
vived his  release  only  a  few  months,  having  died  in  October, 
1643.  His  place,  however,  as  leader  of  the  Jansenist  party, 
•was  supplied  by  one  destined  to  annoy  the  Jesuits  by  his  con- 
troversial talents  fully  more  than  his  predecessor  had  done  by 
his  apostolic  sanctity.  Anthony  Arnauld  may  be  said  to  have 
been  born  an  enemy  to  the  Jesuits.  His  father,  a  celebrated 
lawyer,  had  distinguished  himself  for  his  opposition  to  the 
Society,  and  having  engaged  ia  an  important  law-suit  against 
them,  in  which  he  warmly  pleaded,  in  the  name  of  the  uni- 
versity, that  they  should  be  interdicted  from  the  education 
of  youth,  and  even  expelled  from  the  kingdom.  Anthony, 
who  inherited  his  spirit,  was  the  youngest  in  a  family  of 
twenty  children,  and  was  born  February  6,  1612.*  Several 
of  them  were  connected  with  Port-Royal.  His  sister,  as  we 
have  seen,  became  its  abbess;  and  five  other  sisters  were 
nuns  in  that  establishment.  He  is  said  to  have  given  preco- 
cious proof  of  his  polemic  turn.  Busying  himself,  when  a 
mere  boy,  with  some  papers  in  his  uncle's  library,  and  being 
asked  what  he  was  about,  he  replied,  "  Don't  you  see  that  I 
am  helping  you  to  refute  the  Hugonots  ?"  This  prognostica- 
tion he  certainly  verified  in  after  life.  He  wrote,  with  almost 
equal  vehemence,  against  Rome,  against  the  Jesuits,  and 
against  the  Protestants.  He  was,  for  many  years,  the  facile 
princeps  of  the  party  termed  Jansenists  ;  and  was  one  of  those 
characters  who  present  to  the  public  an  aspect  ne.arly  the  re- 
verse of  the  estimate  formed  of  them  by  their  private  friends. 
By  the  hitter  he  is  represented  as  the  best  of  men,  totally 
free  from  pride  and  passion.  Judging  from  his  physiognomy, 


*  M^moires  de  P.  Royal,  i.  13.     Bayle  insists  that  his  father  had 
twenty-two  children.     Diet.,  ar.  Arnauld. 


his  -writings  and  his  life,  we  would  say  the  natural  temper  of 
Arnauld  was  austere  and  indomitable.  Expelled  from  the 
Sarbonne,  driven  out  of  France,  and  hunted  from  place  to 
place,  he  continued  to  fight  to  the  last.  On  one  occasion, 
wishing  his  friend  Nicole  to  assist  him  in  a  new  work,  the  lat- 
ter observed,  "We  are  now  old,  is  it  not  time  to  rest?" 
" Rest !"  exclaimed  Arnauld,  "have  we  not  all  eternity  to 
rest  in  ?" 

Such  was  the  character  of  the  man  who  now  entered  the 
lists  against  the  redoubtable  Society.  His  first  offence  was 
the  publication,  in  1643,  of  a  book  on  "Frequent  Commu- 
nion ;"  in  which,  while  he  inculcates  the  necessity  of  a  spirit- 
ual preparation  for  the  e.uchaiist,  be  insinuated  that  the 
Church  of  Rome  had  a  two-fold  head,  in  the  persons  of  Peter 
and  Paul.*  His  next  WMS  in  the  shape  of  two  letters,  pub- 
lished in  1656,  occasioned  by  a  dispute  referred  to  in  the  first 
Provincial  Letter,  in  which  he  declared  that  he  had  not  been 
able  to  find  the  condemned  propositions  in  Jansen,  and  add- 
ed some  opinions  on  grace.  The  first  of  these  assertions  was 
deemed  derogatory  to  the  holy  see  ;  the  second  was  charged 
with  heresy.  The  Jesuits,  who  sighed  for  an  opportunity  of 
humbling  the  obnoxious  doctor,  strained  every  nerve  to  procure 
his  expulsion  from  the  Sarbonne,  or  college  of  divinity  in  the 
university.  This  object  they  had  just  accomplished,  and  ev- 
erything promised  fair  to  secure  their  triumph,  when  another 
combatant  unexpectedly  appeared,  like  one  of  those  closely- 
visored  knights  of  whom  we  read  in  romance,  who  so  oppor- 
tunely enter  the  field  at  the  critical  moment,  and  with  their 
single  arm  turn  the  tide  of  battle.  Need  we  say  that  we 
allude  to  the  author  of  the  PROVIMCIAL  LETTERS  ? 

Bayle  commences  his  Life  of  Pascal  by  declaring  him  to  be 
"  one  of  the  sublimest  geniuses  that  the  world  ever  pro- 
duced." Seldom,  at  least,  has  the  world  ever  seen  such  a 
combination  of  excellences  in  one  man.  In  him  we  are  called 
to  admire  the  loftiest  attributes  of  mind  with  the  loveliest 

*  Weisman,  Hist.  Ecc- .,  ii.  204. 
2* 


XXXIV  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

simplicity  of  moral  character.  He  is  a  rare  example  of  one 
born  with  a  natural  genius  for  the  exact  sciences,  who  ap- 
plied the  subtlety  of  his  mind  to  religious  subjects,  combining 
with  the  closest  logic  the  utmost  elegance  of  style,  and 
crowning  all  with  a  simple  and  profound  piety.  Blaise  Pas- 
cal was  born  at  Clermont,  19th  June,  1623.  His  family  had 
been  ennobled  by  Louis  XI.,  and  his  father,  Stephen  Pascal, 
occupied  a  high  post  in  the  civil  government.  Blaise  mani- 
fested from  an  early  age  a  strong  liking  for  the  study  of 
mathematics,  and,  while  yet  a  child,  made  some  astonishing 
discoveries  in  natural  philosophy.  To  these  studies  he  devo- 
ted the  greater  part  of  his  life.  An  incident,  however,  which 
occurred  in  his  thirty-first  year — a  narrow  escape  from  sud- 
den death — had  the  effect  of  giving  an  entire  change  to  the 
current  of  his  thoughts.  He  regarded  it  as,  a  message  from 
heaven,  calling  him  to  renounce  all  secular  occupations,  and 
devote  himself  exclusively  to  God.  His  sister  and  niece  be- 
ing nuns  in  Port-Royal,  he  was  naturally  led  to  associate  with 
those  who  then  began  to  be  called  Jansenists.  But  though 
he  had  several  of  the  writings  of  the  party,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  was  the  devotion  rather  than  the  theology  of 
Port-Royal  that  constituted  its  charm  in  the  eyes  of  Pascal. 
His  sister  informs  us,  in  her  memoirs  of  him,  that  "  he  had 
never  applied  himself  to  abstruse  questions  in  divinity."  Nor, 
beyond  a  temporary  retreat  to  Port-Royal  des  Champs,  and 
an  intimacy  with  its  leading  solitaries,  can  he  be  said  to  have 
had  any  connection  with  that  establishment.  His  fragile 
frame,  which  was  the  victim  of  complicated  disease,  and  his 
feminine  delicacy  of  spirit,  unfitting  him  for  the  rough  col- 
lisions of  ordinary  life,  he  found  a  congenial  retreat  amidst 
these  literary  solitudes ;  while,  with  his  clear  and  compre- 
hensive mind,  and  his  genuine  piety  of  heart,  he  must  have 
sympathized  with  those  who  sought  to  remove  from  the 
Church  corruptions  which  he  could  not  fail  to  deplore,  and  to 
renovate  the  spirit  of  that  Christianity  which  he  loved  far 
above  any  of  its  organized  forms.  His  life,  not  unlike  a  per- 
petual miracle,  is  ever  exciting  our  admiration,  not  unmingled, 


however,  with  pity.  We  see  great  talents  enlisted  in  the 
support,  not  indeed  of  the  errors  of  a  system,  but  of  a  sys- 
tem of  errors — we  see  a  noble  mind  debilitated  by  supersti- 
tion— we  see  a  useful  life  prematurely  terminating  in,  if  not 
shortened  by,  the  petty  austerities  and  solicitudes  of  monas- 
ticism.  Truth  requires  us  to  state,  that  he  not  only  denied 
himself,  at  last,  the  most  common  comforts  of  life,  but  wore 
beneath  his  clothes  a  girdle  of  iron,  with  sharp  points,  which, 
as  soon  as  he  felt  any  pleasurable  sensation,  he  would  strike 
with  his  elbow,  so  as  to  force  the  points  of  iron  more  deeply 
into  his  sides.  Let  the  Church,  which  taught  him  such  folly, 
be  responsible  for  it ;  and  let  us  ascribe  to  the  grace  of  God 
the  patience,  the  meekness,  the  charity,  and  the  faith,  which 
hovered,  seraph- wise,  over  the  death-bed  of  expiring  genius. 
The  curate  who  attended  him,  struck  with  the  triumph  of  re- 
ligion over  the  pride  of  an  intellect  which  continued  to  tmrn 
after  it  had  ceased  to  blaze,  would  frequently  exclaim  :  "  He 
is  an  infant — humble  and  submissive  as  an  infant !"  He  died 
on  the  19th  of  August,  1662,  aged  thirty-nine  years  and  two 
months. 

While  Arnauld's  process  before  the  Sarbonne  was  in  de- 
pendence, a  few  of  his  friends,  among  whom  were  Pascal  and 
Nicole,  were  in  the  habit  of  meeting  privately  at  Port-Royal/ 
to  consult  on  the  measures  they  should  adopt.  During  these 
conferences  one  of  their  number  said  to  Arnauld  :  "  Will  you 
really  suffer  yourself  to  be  condemned  like  a  child,  without 
saying  a  word,  or  telling  the  public  the  real  state  of  the  ques- 
tion ?"  The  rest  concurred,  and  in  compliance  with  their  so- 
licitations, Arnauld,  after  some  days,  produced  and  read  be- 
fore them  a  long  and  serious  vindication  of  himself.  His 
audience  listened  in  coolness  and  silence,  upon  which  he  re- 
marked :  "  I  see  you  don't  think  highly  of  my  production, 
and  I  believe  you  are  right ;  but,"  added  he,  turning  him- 
self round  and  addressing  Pascal,  "  you  who  are  young,  why 
cannot  you  produce  -something  ?''  The  appeal  was  not  lost 
upon  our  author ;  he  had  hitherto  written  almost  nothing,  but 
he  engaged  to  try  a  sketch  or  rough  draft,  which  they  might 


XXXVI  HIS1ORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

fill  up  ;  and  retiring  to  his  room,  he  produced,  in  a  few  hours, 
instead  of  a  sketch,  the  first  letter  to  a  provincial.  On  read- 
ing tin's  to  his  assembled  friends,  Arnauld  exclaimed,  "  That 
is  excellent  !  that  will  go  down  ;  we  must  have  it  printed 
immediately." 

Pascal  had,  in  fact,  with  the  native  superiority  of  genius, 
pitched  on  the  very  tone  which,  in  a  controversy  of  this  kind, 
was  calculated  to  arrest  the  public  mind.  Treating  theology 
in  a  style  entirely  new,  he  brought  down  the  subject  to  the 
comprehension  of  all,  and  translated  into  the  pleasantries  of 
comedy,  and  familiarities  of  dialogue,  discussions  which  had 
till  then  been  confined  to  the  grave  utterances  of  the  school. 
The  framework  whiph  he  adopted  in  his  first  letter  was  ex- 
ceedingly happy.  A  Parisian  is  supposed  to  transmit  to  one 
of  his  friends  in  the  provinces  an  account  of  the  disputes  of 
the  day.  It  is  said  that  the  provincial  with  whom  he  affected 
to  correspond  was  Perrier,  who  had  married  one  of  his  sis- 
ters. Hence  arose  the  name  of  the  Provincials,  which  was 
given  to  the  rest  of  the  letters. 

This  title  they  owe,  it  would  appear,  to  a  mistake  of  the 
printer  ;  for  in  an  advertisement  prefixed  to  one  of  the  early 
editions,  it  is  stated  that  "  they  have  been  called  '  Provin- 
cials,' because  the  first  having  been  addressed  without  any 
name  to  a  person  in  the  country,  the  printer  published  it 
under  the  title  '  Letter  written  to  a  Provincial  by  one  of  his 
Friends.'  "  This  may  be  regarded  as  an  apology  for  the  use 
of  a  term  which,  critically  speaking,  was  rather  unhappy. 
The  word  provincial  in  French,  when  used  to  signify  a  per- 
son residing  in  the  provinces,  was  generally  understood  in  a 
bad  sense,  as  denoting  an  unpolished  clown.*  But  the  title, 


*  The  title  under  which  the  Letters  appeared  when  first  collected  into 
a  volume  was,  "  Lettres  ecrites  par  Louis  de  Montalte.  a  un  Provincial 
de  ses  amis,  et  aux  RR.  PP.  Jesuites,  sur  la  morale  et  la  politique  de 
ces  Peres." 

Father  Bouhours.  a  Jesuit  ridicules  the  title  of  the  Letters,  and  says 
he  is  surprised  they  were  not  rather  entitled  "  Letters  from  a  Country 
Bumpkin  to  his  Friends,"  and  instead  of"  The  Provincials"  called  '  The 
Bumpkins"  —  "  Campafrnardes."  (Remarques  sur  la  langae  Fran.,  p. 
' 


&  306-     Diet.  Univ.,  art.  Provincid.') 


ANECDOTES    OF    THE    PROVINCIALS.  XXXVU 

uncouth  as  it  is,  has  been  canonized  and  made  classical  for- 
ever; and  "  The  Provincials"  is  a -phrase  which  it  would  now 
be  fully  as  ridiculous  to  attempt  to  change  as  it  could  be  at 
first  to  apply  it  to  the  Letters. 

The  most  trifling  particulars  connected  with  such  a  publi- 
cation possess  an  interest.  The  Letters,  we  learn,  were  pub- 
lished at  first  in  separate  stitched  sheets  of  a  quarto  size ; 
and,  on  account  of  t'ueir  brevity,  none  of  them  extending  to 
more  than  01 1  sheet  of  eight  pages,  except  the  last  three, 
•which  were  somewhat  longer,  they  were  at  first  known  by 
the  name  of  the  "  LITTLE  LETTERS."  No  stated  time  was 
observed  in  their  publication.  The  first  letter  appeared  Jan- 
uary 13,  1C5G,  being  on  a  Wednesday  ;  the  second  on  Janu- 
ary 29,  bc-ing  Saturday;  and  the  rest  were  issued  at  inter- 
vals varying  from  a  week  to  a  month,  till  March  24,  1657, 
•which  is  the  date  "of  the  last  letter  in  the  series;  the  whole 
thus  extending  over  the  space  of  a  year  and  three  months. 

All  accounts  agree  in  stating  that  the  impression  produced 
by  the  Provincials,  on  their  first  appearance,  was  quite  unex- 
ampled. They  were  circulated  in  thousands  in  Paris  and 
throughout  France.  Speaking  of  the  first  letter,  Father 
Daniel  says:  "It  created  a  fracas  which  filled  the  fathers  of 
the  Society  with  consternation.  Never  did  the  post-office 
reap  greater  profits  ;  copies  were  despatched  over  the  whole 
kingdom  ;  and  I  myself,  though  very  little  known  to  the 
gentlemen  of  Port-Royal,  received  a  large  packet  of  them, 
post-paid,  in  a  town  of  Brittany  where  I  was  then  residing." 
The  same  method  was  followed  with  the  rest  of  the  letters. 
The  seventh  found  its  way  to  Cardinal  Mazarin,  who  laughed 
over  it  very  heartily.  The  eighth  did  not  appear  till  a  month 
after  its  predecessor,  apparently  to  keep  up  expectation.* 
In  short,  everybody  read  the  "  Little  Letters,"  and,  what- 
ever might  be  their  opinions  of  the  points  in  dispute,  all 
agreed  in  admiring  the  genius  which  they  displayed.  They 
were  found  lying  on  the  merchant's  counter,  the  lawyer's 

*  Daniel,  Entretierw,  p.  19. 


XXXVU1  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

desk,  the  doctor's  table,  the  lady's  toilet ;  and  everywhere 
they  were  sought  for  and  perused  with  the  same  avidity.* 
The  success  of  the  Letters  in  gaining  their  object  was  not 
less  extraordinary.  The  Jesuits  were  fairly  checkmated  ; 
and  though  they  succeeded  in  carrying  through  the  censure 
of  Arnauld,  the  public  sympathy  was  enlisted  in  his  favor. 
The  confessionals  and  churches  of  the  Jesuits  were  deserted, 
while  those  of  their  opponents  were  crowded  with  admiring 
thousands.f  "  That  book  alone,"  says  one  of  its  bitterest 
enemies,  "  has  done  more  for  the  Jansenists  than  the  '  Au- 
gustinus'  of  Jansen,  and  all  the  works  of  Arnauld  put  to- 
gether. "J  This  is  the  more  surprising  when  we  consider  that, 
at  that  time,  the  influence  of  the  Jesuits  was  so  high  in  the 
ascendant,  that  Arnauld  had  to  contend  with  the  pope,  the 
king,  the  chancellor,  the  clergy,  the  Sorbonne,  the  universi- 
ties, and  the  great  body  of  the  populace ;  and  that  never 
was  Jansenism  at  a  lower  ebb,  or  more  generally  anathema- 
tized than  when  the  first  Provincial  Letter  appeared. 

This,  however,  was  not  all.  Besides  having  the  tide  of 
public  favor  turned  against  them,  the  Jesuits  found  them- 
selves the  objects  of  universal  derision.  The  names  of  their 
favorite  casuists  were  converted  into  proverbs  :  Escobarder 
came  to  signify  the  same  thing  with  "  paltering  in  a  double 
sense ;"  Father  Bauny's  grotesque  maxims  furnished  topics 
for  perpetual  badinage  ;  and  the  Jesuits,  wherever  they  went, 
were  assailed  with  inextinguishable  laughter.  By  no  other 
method  could  Pascal  have  so  severely  stung  this  proud  and 
self-conceited  Society.  The  rage  into  which  they  were 
thrown  was  extreme,  and  was  variously  expressed.  At  one 
time  it  found  vent  in  calumnies  and  threats  of  vengeance. 
At  other  times  they  indulged  in  puerile  lamentations.  It 
was  amusing  to  hear  these  stalwart  divines,  after  breathing 
fire  and  slaughter  against  their  enemies,  assume  the  queru- 
lous tones  of  injured  and  oppressed  innocence.  "  The  perse- 

*  Petitot,  Notices,  p.  121. 

t  Benoit,  Hist,  de  1  Edit,  de  Nantes,  iii.  198. 

J  Daniel,  Entrctiens,  p.  11. 


ANECDOTES    OF   THE    PROVINCIALS.  XXxix 

cution  which  the  Jesuits  suffer  from  the  buffooneries  of  Port- 
Royal,"  they  said,  "is  perfectly  intolerable  :  the  wheel  and 
the  gibbet  are  nothing  to  it ;  it  can  only  be  compared  to  the 
torture  inflicted  on  the  ancient  martyrs,  who  were  first  rubbed 
over  with  honey  and  then  left  to  be  stung  to  death  by  wasps 
and  wild  bees.  Their  tyrants  have  subjected  them  to  em- 
poisoned raillery,  and  the  world  leaves  them  urtpitied  to  suf- 
fer a  sweet  death,  more  cruel  in  its  sweetness  than  the  bit- 
terest punishment."* 

The  Letters  were  published  anonymously,  under  the  ficti- 
tious signature  of  Louis  de  Montalte,  and  the  greatest  care 
was  taken  to  preserve  the  secret  of  their  authorship.  As  on 
all  such  occasions,  many  were  the  guesses  made,  and  the 
false  reports  circulated  ;  but  beyond  the  circle  of  Pascal's 
personal  friends,  none  knew  him  to  be  the  author,  nor  was 
the  fact  certainly  or  publicly  known  till  after  his  death.  The 
following  anecdote  shows,  however,  that  he  was  suspected, 
and  was  once  very  nearly  discovered  :  After  publishing  the 
third  letter,  Pascal  left  Port-Royal  des  Champs,  to  avoid  be- 
ing disturbed,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  Paris,  under  the 
name  of  M.  de  Mons,  in  a  hotel  garni,  at  the  sign  of  the  King 
of  Denmark,  Rue  des  Poiriers,  exactly  opposite  the  college 
of  the  Jesuits.  Here  he  was  joined  by  his  brother-in-law, 
Perrier,  who  passed  as  the  master  of  the  house.  One  day 
Perrier  received  a  visit  from  his  relative,  Father  Fretat,  a 
Jesuit,  accompanied  by  a  brother  monk.  Fretat  told  him 
that  the  Society  suspected  M.  Pascal  to  be  the  author  of  the 
"  Little  Letters,"  which  were  making  such  a  noise,  and  ad- 
vised him  as  a  friend  to  prevail  on  his  brother-in-law  to  de- 
sist from  writing  any  more  of  them,  as  he  might  otherwise 
involve  himself  in  much  trouble,  and  even  danger.  Perrier 
thanked  him  for  his  advice,  but  said  he  was  afraid  it  would 
be  altogether  useless,  as  Pascal  would  just  reply  that  he 
could  not  hinder  people  from  suspecting  him,  and  that 
though  he  should  deny  it  they  would  not  believe  him.  The 
monks  took  their  departure,  much  to  the  relief  of  Perrier,  for 
*  Nicole.  Notes  sur  la  xi.  Lettre  iii.  332. 


It  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

at  that  veiy  time  several  sheets  of  the  seventh  or  eighth  let- 
ter, newly  come  from  the  printer,  were  lying  on  the  bed, 
where  tiny  had  been  placed  for  the  purpose  of  drving,  but, 
fortunately,  though  the  curtains  were  only  partially  drawn, 
and  one  of  the  monks  sat  very  close  to  the  bed,  they  were 
not  observed.  Perrier  ran  immediately  to  communicate  the 
incident  to  his  brother-in-law,  who  was  in  an  adjoining  apart- 
ment ;  and  he  had  reason  to  congratulate  him  on  the  narrow- 
escape  which  he  had  made.* 

As  Pascal  proceeded,  he  transmitted  his  manuscripts  to 
Port-Royal  des  Champs,  where  they  were  carefully  revised 
and  corrected  by  Arnauld  and  Nicole.  Occasionally,  these 
expert  divines  suggested  the  plans  of  the  letters ;  and  by 
them  lie  was,  beyond  all  doubt,  furnished  with  most  of  his 
quotations  from  the  voluminous  writings  of  the  casuists, 
which,  with  the  exception  of  Escobar,  he  appears  never  to 
have  read.  We  must  not  suppose,  however,  that  he  took 
these  on  trust,  or  gave  himself  no  trouble  to  verify  them. 
We  shall  afterwards  have  proof  of  the  contrary.  The  first 
letters  he  composed  with  the  rapidity  of  new-born  enthusi- 
asm ;  but  t*he  pains  and  mental  exertion  which  he  bestowed 
on  the  rest  are  almost  incredible.  Nicole  says  "  he  was  often 
.wenty  whole  days  on  a  single  letter:  and  some  of  them 
le  recommenced  seven  or  eight  times  before  bringing  them 
X)  their  picsent  state  of  perfection."!  We  are  assured  that 
je  wrote  over  the  eighteenth  letter  no  less  than  thirteen 
Jmes.J  Having  been  obliged  to  hasten  the  publication  of 
the  sixteenth,  on  account  of  a  search  made  after  it  in  the 
printing  office,  he  apologizes  for  its  length  on  the  ground 
that  "  he  had  found  no  time  to  make  it  shorter."^ 

*  Recueil  de  Port-Royal,  278,  279  ;  Petitot,  pp.  122.  123. 

f  Histoire  des  Provinciates,  p.  12. 

j  Petitot  p.  124.  The  eighteenth  letter  embraces  the  delicate  topic 
of  papal  authority,  as  well  as.  the  distinction  between  faith  and  fact, 
in  stilting  which  we  can  easily  conceive  how  severely  the  ingenuous 
mind  of  Pascal  must  have  labored  to  find  snrne  plausible  ground  for 
vindicating  his  consistency  as  a  Roman  Catholic.  To  the  Protestant 
reader,  it  must  appear  the  most  unsatisfactory  of  all  the  Letters. 

§  Prov.  Let.;  p.  340. 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    PROVINCIALS.  ill 

The  fruits  of  this  extraordinary  elaboration  appear  in  every 
letter ;  but  what  is  equally  remarkable,  is  the  art  with  which 
so  many  detached  letters,  written  at  distant  intervals,  and 
prompted  by  passing  events,  have  been  so  arranged  as  to 
form  an  harmonious  whole.  The  first  three  letters  refer  to 
Arnauld's  affair ;  the  questions  of  grace  are  but  slightly 
touched,  the  main  object  being  to  interest  the  reader  in  favor 
of  the  Jansenists,  and  excite  his  contempt  and  indignalion 
against  their  opponents.  After  this  prelude,  the  fourth  let- 
ter serves  as  a  transition  to  the  following  six,  in  which  he 
takes  up  maxims  of  the  casuists.  In  the  eight  concluding 
letters  he  resumes  the  gi'and  objects  of  the  work — the  morals 
of  the  Jesuits  and  the  question  of  grace.  These  three  parts 
have  each  their  peculiar  style.'  The  first  is  distinguished  for 
lively  dialogue  and  repartee.  Jacobins,  Molinists,  and  Jnn- 
senists  are  brought  on  the  stage,  and  speak  in  character, 
while  Pascal  does  little  more  than  act  as  reporter.  In  the 
second  part,  he  comes  into  personal  contact  with  a  casuisti- 
cal doctor,  and  extracts  from  him,  under  the  pretext  of  desi- 
ring information,  some  of  the  weakest  and  worst  of  his  max- 
ims. At  the  eleventh  letter,  Pascal  throws  off  his  disguise, 
and  addressing  himself  directly  to  the  whole  order  of  the 
Jesuits,  and  to  their  Provincial  by  name,  he  pours  out  his 
whole  soul  in  an  impetuous  and  impassioned  torrent  of  decla- 
mation. From  beginning  to  end  it  is  a  well-sustained  bat- 
tle, in  which  the  weapons  are  only  changed  in  order  to  strike 
the  harder. 

The  literary  merits  of  the  Provincials  have  been  univer- 
sally acknowledged  and  applauded.  On  this  point,  where 
Pascal's  countrymen  must  be  considered  the  most  competent 
judges,  we  have  the  testimonies  of  the  leading  spirits  of 
France.  Boileau  pronounced  it  a  work  that  has  "  surpassed 
at  once  the  ancients  and  the  moderns."  Perrault  has  given 
a  similar  judgment:  "There  is  more  wit  in  these  eighteen 
letters  than  in  Plato's  Dialogues;  more  delicate  and  artful 
raillery  than  in  those  of  Lucian ;  and  more  strength  and  in- 
genuity of  reasoning  than  in  the  orations  of  Cicero.  We 


X  HISTOEICAL    INTRODUCTIOlf. 

tave  nothing  more  beautiful  in  this  species  of  writing."* 
"  Pascal's  style,"  says  the  Abbe  d'Arligny,  "  has  never  been 
surpassed,  nor  perhaps  equalled. "f  The  high  encomium  of 
Voltaire  is  well  known  :  "  The  Provincial  Letters  were  mod- 
els of  eloquence  and  pleasantry.  The  best  comedies  of  Mo- 
liere  have  not  more  wit  in  them  than  the  first  letters ;  Bos- 
suet  has  nothing  more  sublime  than  the  last  ones."  Again, 
the  same  writer  says :  "The  first  work  of  genius  that  ap- 
peared in  prose  was  the  collection  of  the  Provincial  Letters. 
Examples  of  every  species  of  eloquence  may  there  be  found. 
There  is  not  a  single  word  in  it  which,  after  a  hundred  years, 
has  undergone  the  change  to  which  all  living  languages  are 
liable.  We  may  refer  to  this  work  the  era  when  our  lan- 
guage became  fixed.  The  Bishop  of  Lucon  told  me,  that 
having  asked  the  Bishop  of  Meaux  what  work  he  would  wish 
most  to  liave  been  the  author  of,  setting  his  own  works 
aside,  Bossuet  instantly  replied,  '  The  Provincial  Letters.'  "J 
"Pascal  succeeded  beyond  all  expression,"  says  D'Alem- 
bert ;  "  several  of  his  bon-mots  have  become  proverbial  in 
our  language,  and  the  Provincials  will  be  ever  regarded  as  a 
model  of  taste  and  style."§  To  this  day  the  same  high  eulo- 
giums  are  passed  on  the  work  by  the  best  scholars  of 
France.  I 

To  these  testimonies  it  would  be  superfluous  to  add  any 
criticism  of  our  own,  were  it  not  to  prepare  the  English 
reader  for  the  peculiar  character  of  our  author's  style.  Pas- 
cal's wit  is  essentially  French.  It  is  not  the  broad  humor 
of  Smollet ;  it  is  not  the  cool  irony  of  Swift ;  far  less  is  it 
the  envenomed  sarcasm  of  Junius.  It  is  wit — the  lively,  po- 
lite, piquant  wit  of  the  early  French  school.  Nothing  c;m  be 
finer  than  its  spirit ;  but  from  its  very  fineness  it  is  apt  to  evap- 
orate in  the  act  of  transfusion  into  another  tongue.  Nothing 

*  Perrnult,  Parnllele  des  Anc.  et  Mod.,  Bayle,  art.  Pascal. 
•f  D'Artigny,  Nouveaux  Memoires.  iii.  p.  34. 
±  Voltaire,  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV.  torn.  ii.  pp.  171,  274. 
()  D'.Alemhert.  Destruct.  des  Jesuites.  p.  54. 

||  Bordas-Dernoulin  Eloge  de  Pascal,  p.  xxv.  (This  was  the  prize 
essay  before  the  French  Academy,  in  June,  1842.) 


CHARACTER    OF    THE    PROVINCIALS.  xli 

can  be  more  ingenious  than  the  transitions  by  which  the  author 
glides  insensibly  from  one  topic  to  another ;  and  in  the  more 
serious  letters,  we  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with  the  mathe- 
matical precision  of  his  reasoning.  But  there  is  a  species  of 
iteration,  and  a  style  of  dovetailing  his  sentiments,  which 
does  not  quite  accord  with  our  taste  ;  and  the  foreign  tenure 
of  which,  in  spite  of  every  effort  to  the  contrary,  must  shine 
through  any  translation. 

High  as  the  Provincials  stand  in  the  literary  world,  they 
were  not  suffered  to  pass  without  censure  in  the  high  places 
of  the  Church.  The  first  effect  of  their  publication,  indeed, 
was  to  raise  a  storm  against  the  casuists,  whom  Pascal  had  so 
effectually  exposed.  The  cures  of  Paris,  and  afterwards  the 
assembly  of  the  clergy,  shocked  at  the  discovery  of  such  a 
sink  of  corruption,  the  existence  "of  which,  though  just  be- 
neath their  feet,  they  never  appear  to  have  suspected,  deter- 
mined to  institute  an  examination  into  the  subject.  Hitherto 
the  tenets  of  the  casuists,  buried  in  huge  folios,  or  only  taught 
in  the  colleges  of  the  Jesuits,  had  .escaped  public  observa- 
tion. The  clergy  resolved  to  compare  the  quotations  of  Pas- 
cal with  these  writings;  and  the  result  of  the  investigation 
was,  that  he  was  found  to  be  perfectly  correct,  while  a  mul- 
titude of  other  maxims,  equally  scandalous,  were  dragged  to 
light.  These  were  condemned  in  a  general  assembly  of  the 
clergy.*  Unfortunately  for  the  Jesuits,  they  had  not  a  single 
writer  at  the  time  capable  of  conducting  their  vindication. 
Several  replies  to  the  Provincials  were  attempted  while  they 
were  in  the  course  of  publication ;  but  these  were  taken  up 
by  the  redoubtable  Montalte,  and  fairly  strangled  at  their 
birth.f  Shortly  after  the  Letters  were  finished,  there  ap- 
peared "  An  Apology  for  the  Casuists,"  the  production  of  a 

*  Nicole,  Hist,  des  Provinciales. 

t  The  names  of  these  nnfortunate  productions  alone  survive;  I. 
"  First  Reply  to  Letters,  &c.,  by  a  Father  of  the  Company  of  Jesus." 

2.  "Provincial  Impostures  of  Sieur  de    Montalte* Secretary  of  Port- 
Royal,  discovered  and  refuted  by  a  Father  of  the  Company  of  Jesus." 

3.  "  Reply  to  a  Theologian,"  &c.    4.  "  Reply  to  the  Seventeenth  Let- 
ter, by  Francis  Annat,"  &c.,  &c. 


iv  HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION. 

Jesuit  named  Pirot,  who,  with  a  folly  and  frankness  which 
proved  nearly  as  fatal  to  his  order  as  it  did  to  himself, 
attempted  to  vindicate  the  worst  maxims  of  the  casuistical 
school.  This  Apology  was  condemned  by  the  Sorbonne,  and 
subsequently  at  Rome ;  its  author  died  of  chagrin,  and  the 
Jesuits  fell  into  temporary  disgrace.* 

But,  with  that  tenaciousness  of  life  and  elasticity  of  limb 
which  have  ever  distinguished  the  Society,  it  was  not  long 
before  they  rebounded  from  their  fall  and  regained  their  feet. 
Unable  to  answer  the  Letters,  they  succeeded  in  obtaining,  in 
February,  1657,  their  condemnation  by  the  Parliament  of 
Provence,  by  whose  orders  they  were  burnt  on  the  pillory  by 
the  hands  of  the  common  executioner.  Not  content  with 
this  clumsy  method  of  refutation,  they  succeeded  in  procur- 
ing the  formal  condemnation  of  the  Provincials  by  a  censure 
of  the  pope,  Alexander  VII.,  dated  6th  September,  1657. 
In  this  decree  the  work  is  "  prohibited  and  condemned,  under 
the  pains  and  censures  contained  in  the  Council  of  Trent,  and 
in  the  index  of  prohibited  books,  and  other  pains  and  cen- 
sures which  it  may  please  his  holiness  to  ordain."  It  is 
almost  needless  to  say,  that  these  sentences  neither  enhanced 
nor  lessened  the  fame  of  the  Provincials.  It  must  be  inter- 
esting to  know  what  the  feelings  of  Pascal  were,  on  learning 
that  this  work,  into  which  he  had  thrown  his  whole  heart, 
and  mind,  and  strength,  and  which  may  be  said  to  have  been 
at  once  his  chef-d'oeuvre  and  his  confession  of  faith,  had  been 
condemned  by  the  head  of  that  Church  which  he  had  hith- 
erto believed  to  be  infallible.  Warped  as  his  fine  spirit  was 
by  education,  his  unbending  fectitude  forbids  the  supposition 
that  he  could  surrender  his  cherished  and  conscientious  sen- 
timents at  the  mere  dictum  of  the  pope.  An  incident  oc- 
curred in  1661,  shortly  before  his  death,  strikingly  illustrative 
of  his  conscientiousness,  and  of  the  sincerity  of  purpose  with 
which  the  Letters  were  written.  The  persecution  had  begun 
to  rage  against  Port-Royal ;  one  mandemcnt  after  another, 

*  Eichhorn,  Geschichte  der  Litteratur,  vol.  5.  pp.  420-423. 


TAPAL    CONDEMNATION    CF    THE    PROVINCIALS.  xlv 

requiring  subscription  to  the  condemnation  of  Jansen,  came 
down" from. the  court  of  Rome;  and  the  poor  nuns,  shrink- 
ing, on  the  one  fiand,  f -om  violating  their  consciences  by  sub- 
scribing what  they  believed  to  be  an  untruth,  and  trembling, 
on  the  other,  at  the  consequences  of  disobeying  their  eccle- 
siastical superiors,  were  thrown  into  the*  most  distressing  em- 
barrassment. Their  "  obstinacy,"  as  it  was  termed,  only  pro- 
voked their  persecutors  to  more  stringent  demands.  In  these 
circumstances,  even  the  stern  Arnauld  and  the  conscientious 
Nicole  were  tempted  to  make  some  compromise,  and  drew  up 
a  declaration  to  accompany  the  signature  of  the  nuns,  which 
they  thought  might  save  at  once  the  truth  and  their  consist- 
ence7. To  this  Pascal  objected,  as  not  sufficiently  clear,  and 
as  leaving  it  to  be  inferred  that  they  condemned  "efficacious 
grace."  He  could  not  endure  the  idea  of  their  employing  an 
ambiguous  statement,  which  appeared,  or  might  be  supposed 
by  their  opponents,  to  grant  what  they  did  not  really  mean 
to  concede.  The  consequence  was  a  slight  and  temporary 
dispute — not  affecting  principle  so  much  as  the  mode  of 
maintaining  it — in  which  Pascal  stood  alone  against  all  the 
members  of  Port- Royal.  On  One  occasion,  after  exhausting 
his  eloquence  upon  them  without  success,  he  was  so  deeply 
affected,  that  his  feeble  frame,  laboring  under  headache  and 
other  disorders,  sunk  under  the  excitement,  and  he  fell  into  a 
swoon.  After  recovering  his  consciousness,  he  explained  the 
cause  of  his  sudden  illness,  in  answer  to  the  affectionate 
inquiries  of  his  sister:  "When  I  saw  those,"  he  said,  "whom 
I  regard  as  the  persons  to  whom  God  has  made  known  his 
truth,  and  who  ought  to  be  its  champions,  all  giving  way,  I 
was  so  overcome  with  grief  that  I  could  stand  it  no  longer." 
Subsequent  mandements,  still  more  stringent,  soon  saved  the 
poor  nuns  from  the  temptation  of  ambiguous  submissions,  and 
reconciled  Pascal  and  his  friends.* 

*  Recueil  de  Port-Re yal,  pp.  314-323.  Some  papers  passed  between 
Pascal  and  his  friends  ,m  this  topic.  Pascal  committed  these  on  his 
death-bed,  to  his  friend  M.  Domat.  "with  a  request  that  he  would  hum 
them  if  the  nuns  of  Port-ftoyal  proved  firm,  and  print  them  if  they 
should  yield."  (Ib.,  p.  823)  The  nuns  having  £»ad  firm,  the  praha- 


llvl  HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION. 

But  we  are  fortunately  furnished  with  his  own  reflections 
on  the  subject  of  the  Provincials,  in  his  celebrated  "  Thoughts 
on  Religion :" 

"  I  feared,"  says  he,  "  that  I  might  have  written  errone- 
ously, when  I  saw  myself  condemned  ;  but  the  example  of  so 
many  pious  witnesses  made  me  think  differently.  It  is  no 
longer  allowable  to  write  truth.  IF  MY  LETTERS  ARE  CON- 
DEMNED AT  ROME,  THAT  WHICH  I  CONDEMN  IN  THEM  IS  CON- 
DEMNED IN  HEAVEN."* 

It  is  only  necessaiy  to  add,  that  Pascal  continued  to  main- 
tain his  sentiments  on  this  subject  unchanged  to  the  last.  On 
his  death-bed,  M.  Beurrier,  his  parish  priest,  administered  to 
him  the  last  rites  of  his  Church,  and  came  to  learn,  after  hav- 
ing confessed  him,  that  he  was  the  author  of  the  "  Provincial 
Letters."  Full  of  concern  at  having  absolved  the  author  of 
a  book  condemned  by  the  pope,  the  good  priest  returned, 
and  asked  him  if  it  was  true,  and  if  he  had  no  remorse  of 
conscience  on  that  account.  Pascal  replied,  that  "  he  could 
assure  him,  as  one  who  was  now  about  to  give  an  account  to 
God  of  all  his  actions,  that  his  conscience  gave  him  no  trou- 
ble on  that  score ;  and  that  in  the  composition  of  that  work 
he  was  influenced  by  no  mad  motive,  but  solely  by  regard  to 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  vindication  of  truth,  and  not  in  the 
least  by  any  passion  or  personal  feeling  against  the  Jesuits." 
Attempts  were  made  by  Perefixe,  archbishop  of  Paris,  firs' 
to  bully  the  priest  for  having  absolved  such  an  impenitent 
offender.f  and  afterwards  to  force  him  into  a  false  account  of 
his  penitent's  confession.  It  was  confidently  reported,  on  the 
pretended  authority  of  the  confessor,  that  Pascal  had  ex- 
pressed  his  sorrow  for  having  written  the  Provincials,  and 

bility  is  that  they  were  destroyed.  Had  they  been  preserved,  they  might 
have  thrown  some  further  light  on  the  opinions  of  Pascal  regarding 
papal  authority. 

*  Si  mes  Lettres  sont  condamnees  d  Rome,  ce  que  fy  condamne.  esi 
condamne  dans  le  del.  (Pensees  de  Blaise  Pascal,  torn,  ii.  Iu3.  Paris, 
18-24.) 

T  ''  How  came  you,"  said  the  archbishop  to  M.  Beurrier.  '•'  to  admin« 
ister  the  sacraments  to  such  a  person  1  Didn't  you  know  that  he  wa* 
a  Joiwenist  1"  (Recueil,  348.) 


EDITIONS    OF   THE    PROVINCIALS.  xvH 

that  he  had  condemned  his  friends  of  Port-Royal  for  want 
of  due  respect  to  papal  authority.  Both  these  allegations 
were  afterwards  distinctly  refuted — the  first  by  the  written 
avowal  of  M.  Beurrier,  and  the  other  by  two  depositions  for- 
mally made  by  Nicole,  showing  that  the  real  ground  of  Pas- 
cal's brief  disagreement  with  his  friends  was  directly  the  re- 
verse of  that  which  had  been  assigned.* 

Few  books  have  passed  through  more  editions  than  the 
Provincials.  The  following,  among  many  others,  may  be 
mentioned  as  French  editions: — The  first,  in  1656,  4to;  a 
second  in  1657,  12mo;  a  third  in  1658,  8vo;  a  fourth  in 
1659,  8vo;  a  fifth  in  1666,  12mo;  a  sixth  in  1667,  8vo;  a 
seventh  in  1669,  12mo ;  an  eighth  in  1689,  8vo;  a  ninth  in 
1712,  8vo  ;  a  tenth  in  1767,  12mo.f  The  later  editions  are 
beyond  enumeration.  The  Letters  were  translated  into  Latin, 
during  the  lifetime  of  Pascal,  by  his  intimate  friend,  the 
learned  and  indefatigable  Nicole,  under  the  assumed  name  of 
"William  Wendrock,  a  Saltzburg  divine."!  Nicole,  who  was 
a  complete  master  of  Latin,  has  given  an  elegant,  though 
somewhat  free  version  of  his  friend's  work.  He  has  fre- 
quently added  to  the  quotations  taken  from  the  writings  of 
the  Jesuits  and  others;  a  liberty  which  he  doubtless  felt 
himself  the  more  warranted  to  take,  from  the  share  he  had 
in  the  original  concoction  of  the  Letters.  Nicole's  prelimi- 
nary dissertation  and  notes  were  translated  by  Mademoiselle 
de  Joncourt,  a  lady,  it  is  said,  "possessed  of  talents  and 
piety,  who,  to  the  graces  peculiar  to  her  own  sex,  added  the 
accomplishments  which  are  the  ornament  of  ours."§  Be- 
sides this,  the  Provincials  have  been  translated  into  nearly  all 

*  Recueil  de  Port-Royal,  pp.  327-330  ;  Petitot,  p.  165. 

t  Walchii  Bihlioth.  Theol.,  ii.  295. 

$  The  title  of  Nicole's  translation,  now  rarely  to  be  met  with,  is,  JLu- 
ctovici  Montaltii  Litteree  Provinciales,  de  Morali  et  Politico,  Jesuitarum 
Disciplina.  A  Wlllelmo  Wendrockio  Salisburgen»i  Theologo.  Several 
editions  of  this  translation  were  printed.  I  have  the  first,  published  at 
Cologne  in  1658,  and  the  fifth,  much  enlarged,  Cologne,  1679. 

<)  Avertissement.  Les  Provinciales.  ed.  1767.  Mad.  de  Joncourt,  or 
Joncoux,  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  falling  fortunes  of  Port-Royal. 
(See  some  account  of  her  in  Madame  Schimme  penninck's  History  of 
the  Demolition  of  Port-Royal,  p.  135.) 


HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION. 

the  languages  of  Europe.  Bayle  informs  us  that  he  had  seen 
an  edition  of  them  in  8vo,  with  four  columns,  containing  the 
French,  Latin,  Italian,  and  Spanish.*  The  Spanish  transla- 
tion, executed  by  Gratien  Cordero  of  Burgos,  was  suppressed 
by  order  of  the  Inquisition.f  But  all  the  efforts  made  for 
the  suppression  of  the  Provincials  only  served  to  promote 
their  popularity  ;  and  their  enemies  found  that,  if  they  would 
silence,  they  must  answer  them. 

Forty  years  elapsed  after  the  publication  of  the  Provincials 
before  the  Jesuits  ventured  on  a  reply.  At  length,  in  1697, 
appeared  an  answer,  entitled  Entrctiens  de  Cleandre  et  d *  Eu- 
doxe,  sur  Ics  Lettres  au  Provincial.  The  author  is  known  to 
have  been  Father  Daniel,  the  historiographer  of  France. 
This  learned  Jesuit  undertook  the  desperate  task  of  refuting 
the  Provincials,  in  a  form  somewhat  resembling  that  of  the 
Letters  themselves,  being  a  series  of  supposed  conversations 
between  two  friends,  aided  by  an  abbe,  "  who  is  excessively 
frank  and  honest,  one  who  never  could  bear  all  his  life  to  see 
people  imposed  upon."  The  dialogue  is  conducted  with  con- 
siderable spirit,  but  is  sadly  deficient  in  vraisemhlance.  The 
author  commences  with  high  professions  of  impartiality.  Ole- 
ander and  Eudoxus  are  supposed  to  be  quite  neutral — some- 
what like  the  free-will  of  Molina,  "  in  a  state  of  perfect  equi- 
librium, until  good  sense  and  stubborn  facts  turn  the  scale." 
But,  alas  !  the  equilibrium  is  soon  lost,  without  the  help  either 
of  facts  or  of  sense.  The  friends  have  hardly  uttered  two 
sentences,  till  they  begin  to  talk  as  like  two  Jesuits  as  could 
well  be  imagined.  Party  rage  gets  the  better  of  literary  dis- 
cretion ;  the  Port- Royalists  are  "  honest  knaves,"  "  true  hyp- 
ocrites," "  villains  animated  with  stubborn  fury  ;"  Amauld'a 
"  pen  may  be  known  by  the  gall  that  drops  from  it ;"  Nicole 
"  swears  like  a  trooper,"  and  as  to  Pascal  he  is  all  these  char- 
acters in  turn,  while  his  book  is  "  \  repertory  of  slander," 
and  is  "  villainous  in  a  supreme  degree  !" 

The  whole  strain  of  Daniel's  reply  corresponds  with  this 

*  Bayle,  Diet.,  art.  Pascal. 
i  Daniel,  Entretiene,  p.  111. 


DANIEL'S  ANSWER  TO  THE  PROVINCIALS.  xlix 

specimen  of  its  spirit.  Avoiding  the  error  of  Pirot,  and  yet 
without  renouncing  the  favorite  dogmas  of  the  Society,  such 
as  probabilism,  equivocations,  and  mental  reservations,  which 
he  only  attempts  to  palliate,  Father  Daniel  has  exhausted  his 
skill  in  an  attack  on  the  sincerity  of  Pascal.  His  main  ob- 
ject is  to  convey  the  impression  that  the  Provincials  are  a 
libel,  written  in  bad  faith,  and  full  of  altered  texts  and  false 
citations.  In  selecting  this  plan  of  defence,  the  Jesuit  cham- 
pion evinces  considerably  more  ingenuity  than  ingenuousness. 
He  was  well  aware  that,  at  the  time  of  their  publication,  the 
Letters  had  been  subjected  to  a  sifting  process  of  examina- 
tion by  the  most  clear-sighted  Jesuits,  who  had  signally  failed 
in  proving  any  falsifications.  But  he  knew  also,  that,  during 
the  forty  years  that  had  elapsed,  the  writings  of  the  casuists 
had  fallen  into  disuse  and  contempt,  mainly  in  consequence 
of  the  scorching  which  they  had  received  from  the  wit  and 
eloquence  of  Pascal,  and  that  it  would  be  now  a  much  easier 
and  safer  task  to  call  in  question  the  fidelity  of  citations  which 
none  would  give  themselves  the  trouble  of  verifying.  In  this 
bold  attempt  to  turn  the  tables  against  the  Jansenists,  by  ac- 
cusing them  of  chicanery  and  pious  fraud,  the  very  crimes 
which  they  had  succeeded  in  establishing  against  their  oppo- 
nents, the  unscrupulous  Jesuit  could  be  at  no  loss  to  find, 
among  the  voluminous  writings  of  the  casuists,  some  plausi- 
ble grounds  for  his  charges.  At  all  events,  he  could  calcu- 
late on  the  readiness  with  which  certain  minds,  fonder  of  gen 
eralizing  than  of  investigating  facts,  would  lay  hold  of  the 
mere  circumstance  of  a  book  having  been  written  in  defence 
of  his  order,  as  sufficient  to  show  that  a  great  deal  may  be 
said  on  both  sides.  As  to  the  manner  in  which  Daniel  has 
executed  his  task,  it  might  be  sufficient  to  say,  that  it  has 
been  acknowledged  by  the  Jesuits  themselves  to  be  a  failure. 
Even  at  its  first  appearance,  great  efforts  were  made  to  sup- 
press it  altogether,  as  likely  to  do  more  harm  than  good  to 
the  Society ;  and  in  their  references  to  it  afterwards,  we  see 
the  disappointment  which  they  felt.  "  There  was  lately  pub- 
lished," says  Richelet,  "an  answer  to  the  Lettres  Provin- 


1  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

ciales,  which  professes  to  demolish  them,  but  which,  never- 
theless, will  not  do  them  much  harm.  Do  you  ask  how  ? 
The  reason  is,  that  although  this  answer  shows  the  horrid 
injustice,  the  abominable  slanders,  and  injurious  falsehoods  of 
the  Provincials,  against  one  of  the  most  famous  societies  in 
the  Church,  yet  these  Letters  have  so  long,  by  their  facetious 
touches,  got  the  laughers  of  all  denominations  on  their  side, 
that  they  have  acquired  a  credit  and  authority  of  which  it 
will  be  difficult  to  divest  them.  It  must  be  confessed  that 
prejudice,  on  this  occasion,  is  very  unjust,  very  cruel,  and 
very  obstinate  in  its  verdict;  since,  though  these  Letters  have 
been  condemned  by  popes,  bishops,  and  divines,  and  burnt 
by  the  hands  of  the  hangman,  yet  they  have  taken  such  deep 
root  in  people's  minds  as  to  bid  defiance  to  all  these  pow- 
ers."* "  The  reply,"  says  another  writer,  "  as  may  be  easily 
imagined,  was  not  so  well  received  as  the  Letters,  had  been. 
Father  Daniel  professed  to  have  reason  and  truth  on  his  side  ; 
but  his  adversary  had  in  his  favor  what  goes  much  further 
with  men,  the  arms  of  ridicule  and  pleasantry."!  This,  how- 
ever, is  a  mere  begging  of  the  question.  Ridentem  dicere 
verum,  quid  vetat?  It  is  quite  possible  that  Father  Daniel 
may  be  lugubriously  in  the  wrong,  and  Pascal  laughingly  in 
the  right.  This  was  very  triumphantly  made  out  in  the  an- 
swer to  Daniel's  work,  which  appeared  in  the  same  year  with 
the  Entretiens,  under  the  title  of  "  Apology  for  the  Provin- 
cial Letters,  against  the  last  Reply  of  the  Jesuits,  entitled 
Conversations  of  Cleander  and  Eudoxus."  The  author  was 
Don  Mathieu  Petitdidier,  Benedictine  of  the  congregation  of 
St.  Vanne,  who  died  bishop  of  Macra.J  In  this  masterly  per- 
formance, the  accusations  of  Daniel  are  shown  to  be  totally 
groundless,  his  answers  Jesuitical  and  evasive,  and  his  argu- 
ments untenable.  The  "  Apology"  was  never  answered,  and 
Daniel's  work  sank  out  of  sight. 

Subsequent  apologists  of  the  Jesuits  have  followed  the 

*  Bayle,  Diet.,  art.  Pascal,  note  K. 

t  Abbe  de  Castres.  Les  Trois  Siecles,  ii.  G3. 

$  Barbier,  Diet,  des  Ouvrages  Anon,  et  Pseudon. 


PASCALS    SELF-VINDICATION.  ll 

line  of  defence  adopted  by  Father  Daniel.  The  continued 
repetition  of  his  charges,  though  they  have  been  long  since 
disposed  of,  renders  it  necessary  to  advert  to  them.  For  the 
strict  fidelity  of  Pascal's  citations,  we  have  not  merely  the 
testimony  of  contemporary  witnesses,  but  what  will  be  to 
many  a  sufficient  guarantee,  the  solemn  assertion  of  Paseal 
himself.  In  a  conversation  that  took  place  within  a  year  of 
his  death,  and  which  has  been  preserved  by  his  sister,  he  thus 
answers  the  chief  articles  of  accusation  that  had  been  brought 
against  the  Provincials : — 

"  I  have  been  asked,  first,  if  I  repented  of  having  written 
the  Provincial  Letters?  I  answered  that,  far  from  repent- 
ing, if  I  had  it  to  do  again,  I  would  write  them  yet  more 
strongly. 

"  I  have  been  asked,  in  the  second  place,  why  I  named  the 
authors  from  whom  I  extracted  these  abominable  passages 
which  I  have  cited  ?  I  answered,  If  I  were  in  a  town  where 
there  were  a  dozen  fountains,  and  I  knew  for  certain  that  one 
of  them  was  poisoned,  I  should  be  under  obligation  to  tell 
the  world  not  to  draw  from  that  fountain ;  and,  as  it  might 
be  supposed  that  this  was  a  mere  fancy  on  my  part,  I  should 
be  obliged  to  name  him  who  had  poisoned  it,  rather  than  ex- 
pose a  whole  city  to  the  risk  of  death. 

"  I  have  been  asked,  thirdly,  why  I  adopted  an  agreeable, 
jocose,  and  entertaining  style  ?  I  answered,  If  I  had  writ- 
ten dogmatically,  none  but  the  learned  would  have  read  my 
book ;  and  they  had  no  need  of  it,  knowing  how  the  matter 
stood,  at  least  as  well  as  I  did.  I  conceived  it,  therefore,  my 
duty  to  write,  so  that  my  Letters  might  be  read  by  women, 
and  people  in  general,  that  they  might  know  the  danger  of 
all  those  maxims  and  propositions  which  were  then  spread 
abroad,  and  admitted  with  so  little  hesitation. 

"  Finally,  I  have  been  asked,  if  I  had  myself  read  all  the 
books  which  I  quoted  ?  I  answered,  No.  To  do  this,  I  "had 
need  have  passed  the  greater  part  of  my  life  in  reading  very 
bad  books.  But  I  have  twice  read  Escobar  throughout ;  and 
for  the  others,  I  got  several  of  my  friends  to  read  them  ;  but 


Ill  HISTORICAL   irrROECCTION. 

/  have  never  used  a  single  passage  wi'hout  having  read  it  my- 
self  in  the  book  quoted,  without  having  examined  the  case  in 
which  it  is  brought  forward,  and  without  having  read  the 
preceding  and  subsequent  context,  that  I  might  not  run  the 
risk  of  citing  that  for  an  answer  which  was  in  fact  an  objec- 
tion, .which  would  have  been  very  unjust  and  blamable."* 

If  this  solemn  declaration,  emitted  by  one  whose  heart  was 
a  stranger  to  deceit,  and  whose  shrewdness  placed  him  be- 
yond the  risk  of  delusion,  is  not  accepted  as  sufficient,  we 
might  refer  to  the  mass  of  evidence  collected  at  the  time  in 
the  Factums  of  the  cures  of  Paris  and  Rouen,  to  the  volu- 
minous notes  of  Nicole,  and  to  the  Apology  of  Petitdidier,  in 
which  the  citations  made  by  Pascal  are  authenticated  with  a 
carefulness  which  not  only  sets  all  suspicion  at  rest,  but  leaves 
a  large  balance  of  credit  in  the  author's  favor,  by  showing 
that,  so  far  from  having  reported  the  worst  maxims  of  the 
Jesuitical  school,  or  placed  them  in  the  most  odious  light  of 
which  they  were  susceptible,  he  has  been  extremely  tender 
towards  them.  But,  indeed,  the  truth  was  placed  beyond  all 
dispute,  through  the  efforts  of  the  celebrated  Bossuet,  in 
1700,  when,  by  a  sentence  of  an  assembly  of  the  clergy  of 
France,  the  morals  of  the  Jesuits,  as  exhibited  in  their  "  mon- 
strous maxims,  which  had  been  long  the  scandal  of  the 
Church  and  of  Europe,"  "were  formally  condemned,  and  when 
it  may  be  said  that  the  Provincial  Letters  met  at  once  their 
full  vindication  and  their  final  triumph.f 

Another  class  of  objectors,  whom  the  Jesuits  have  had 
the  good  fortune  to  number  among  their  apologists,  are  the 
sceptical  philosophers,  whose  native  antipathy  to  Jansenism, 
as  a  phase  of  serious  religion,  renders  them  willing  to  sacrifice 
truth  for  the  sake  of  a  sneer  at  his  disciples.  D'Alembert 


*  Tabaraud,  Dissertation  sur  la  foi  qui  est  due  au  Temoismage  da 
Pascal  dans  ses  Lettres  Provinciales.p  12. — This  work,  published  some 
years  ago  in  France,  contains  a  complete  Justification  of  Pascal's  pic- 
ture of  the  Jesuits  in  the  Provincials  accompanied  with  a  mass  of  au- 
thorities. The  above  sentiments  have  been  introduced  into  Pascal's 
Thoughts.  (See  Craig's  translation,  p.  185. ) 

f  Vie  de  Bossutt  t.  iv.  p.  ID;  Tabaraud,  Dissert,  sur  la  ibi,  &c.,p.  43. 


VOLTAIRE    AND    THE    PROVINCIALS.  US 

expresses  liis  regret  that  Pascal  did  not  kmpoon  Jesuits  and 
Jansenists  alike  ;*  and  Voltaire,  in  the  mere  wantonness  of 
his  cynical  humor,  if  not  from  a  more  worthless  motive,  ha? 
appended  to  his  high  panegyric  on  the  Provincials,  already 
quoted,  the  following  qualifications:  "It  is  true  that  the 
whole  of  Pascal's  book  is  founded  upon  a  false  principle.  He 
has  artfully  charged  the  whole  Society  with  the  extravagant 
opinions  of  some  few  Spanish  and  Flemish  Jesuits,  which  he 
might  with  equal  ease  have  detected  among  the  casuists  of 
the  Dominican  and  Franciscan  orders ;  but  the  Jesuits  alone 
were  the  persons  he  wanted  to  attack.  In  these  Letters  he 
endeavored  to  prove  that  they  had  a  settled  design  to  cor- 
rupt the  morals  of  mankind — a  design  which  no  sect  or  soci- 
ety ever  had,  or  ever  could  have.  But  his  business  was  not 
to  be  right,  but  to  entertain  the  public."f  Every  clause 
here  contains  a  fallacy.  The  charge  of  party- spirit,  insinua- 
ted throughout,  is  perfectly  gratuitous.  Never,  perhaps, 
was  any  man  more  free  from  this  infirmity  than  Pascal. 
That  it  was  pure  zeal  for  the  morality  of  the  Gospel  which 
engaged  him  to  take  up  his  pen  against  the  Jesuits,  can  be 
doubted  by  none  but  those  who  make  it  a  point  to  call  in 
question  the  reality  of  all  religious  conviction. J  Equally  un- 
founded is  the  imputation  of  levity.  Pascal  was  earnest  in 
his  raillery.  A  deep  seriousness  of  purpose  lurked  under 
the  smile  of  his  irony.  Voltaire  describes  himself,  not  the  au- 
thor of  the  Provincials,  when  he  says  that  "  his  business  was 
not  to  be  right,  but  to  entertain  the  public*."  As  to  Pascal 
having  "  endeavored  to  prove  that  the  Jesuits  had  a  settled 
design  to  corrupt  the  morals  of  mankind,"  we  are  not  sur- 
prised at  Father  Daniel  saying  so  ;  but  it  is  unaccountable 
how  any  but  a  Jesuit,  who  professed  to  have  read  the  Let- 
ters, could  advance  a  theory  so  distinctly  anticipated  and  dis- 


*  "  The  shocking  doctrine  of  Jansenius  and  of  St.  Cyran.  afforded 
at  least  as  much  room  forri<licule  asthe  pliant  doctrine  of  Molina,  Tarn- 
bourin  and  Vasqupz."  (D'AI  -mhert.  Best,  of  the  Jesuits,  p.  55.) 

t  Voltaire.  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV..  ii.  3G7. 

j  Eichhorn,  Geschichte  der  Lit.;  i.  426. 


UV  HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION. 

claimed  in  the  Letters  themselves.  "  Know,  then,"  it  is  said 
in  letter  fifth,  "  that  their  object  is  not  the  corruption  of 
manners — that  is  not  tlidr  design.  But  as  little  is  it  their 
sole  aim  to  reform  them — that  would  be  bad  policy."* 
"Alas!"  says  the  Jesuit,  in  letter  sixth,  "  our  main  object, 
no  doubt,  should  have  been  to  establish  no  other  maxims 
than  those  of  the  Gospel ;  and  it  is  easy  to  see,  from  our 
rules,  that  if  we  tolerate  some  degree  of  relaxation  in  others, 
it  is  rather  out  of  complaisance  than  design"\  In  truth, 
nothing  is  more  clearly  marked  throughout  the  Letters  than 
this  distinction  between  the  design  of  the  Society  and  the 
tendency  of  its  policy — a  distinction  which  leaves  very  small 
scope  for  the  sage  apophthegm  of  the  philosophical  historian. 
There  is  some  reason  to  think  that  Voltaire  expressed  himself 
in  this  manner,  with  the  view  of  procuring  the  recommenda- 
tion of  Father  Latour  to  enter  the  Academy — an  object  for 
the  accomplishment  of  which,  it  is  well  known,  he  made  the 
most  unworthy  concessions  to  the  Jesuits.J 

Later  critics,  in  speaking  of  the  Provincials,  have  indulged 
in  a  similar  strain  of  vague  depreciation  ;  as  a  specimen  of 
which  we  might  have  referred  to  Schlegel,  who  talks  of  their 
being  "nothing  more  than  a  master- piece  of  sophistry,"§ 
and  repeats  the  charge  of  profaneness,  which  Pascal  has  so 
triumphantly  refuted  in  his  eleventh  letter.  It  would  be  a 
sad  waste  of  time  to  answer  this  ridiculous  objection.  Nor 
will  it  be  surprising  to  those  who  know  the  history  of  Blanco 
White,  to  find  him  indulging  in  a  sceptical  vein  on  this  as  on 
other  subjects.  "  Pascal  and  the  Jansenist  party,"  he  says, 
"  accused  them  of  systematic  laxity  in  their  moral  doctrines  ; 
but  the  charge,  I  believe,  though  plausible  in  theory,  was 
perfectly  groundless  in  practice.  The  strict,  unbending  max- 
ims of  the  Jansenists,  by  urging  persons  of  all  characters  and 
tempers  on  to  an  imaginary  goal  of  perfection,  bring  quickly 
-.heir  whole  system  to  the  decision  of  experience.  A  greater 

»  Prov.  Lpt..  p.  118.  f  Ib..  p.  143. 

±  Tabaraud.  p.  117;  Bord.  Demoulin,  Elooe  de  Pascal,  Append. 

$  Schlegel,  Lectures  on  Hist,  of  Lit.  ii.  188. 


CRITICISMS    ON    THE    PROVINCIALS.  ly 

knowledge  of  mankind  made  the  Jesuits  more  cautious  in  the 
culture  of  devotional  feelings.  They  well  knew  that  but  few 
can  prudently  engage  in  open  hostility  with  what,  in  ascetic 
language,  is  called  the  world."*  The  strange  mixture  of 
truth  and  error  in  this  statement  leaves  an  unfavorable  im- 
pression on  the  mind,  the  fallacy  of  which  we  feel  ere  we 
have  time  to  analyze  it.  It  is  true  that  nothing  could  be 
more  opposite  to  the  laxity  of  the  Jesuits  than  the  asceticism 
of  Port-Royal.  But  it  is  doing  injustice  to  Pascal  to  insinu- 
ate that  he  measured  Jesuitical  morality  by  "  the  strict,  un- 
bending maxims  of  the  Jansenists ;"  and  it  is  flagrantly  un- 
true that  the  Jesuits  merely  aimed  at  reducing  monastic 
enthusiasm  to  the  standard  of  common  sense  and  ordinary 
life.  We  repeat  that  the  real  charge  which  Pascal  substanti- 
ates against  them  is,  not  that  they  softened  the  austerities  of 
the  cloister,  but  that  they  sacrificed  the  eternal  laws  of  moral- 
ity— not  that  they  prudently  suited  their  rules  to  men's  tem- 
pers, but  that  they  licensed  the  worst  passions  and  propensi- 
ties of  our  nature — not  that  they  declined  urging  all  to  for- 
sake the  world  (which  he  never  expected),  but  that  they 
sought,  for  their  own  politic  ends,  to  veil  its  impurities,  and 
countenance  its  evil  customs. 

Disguising  their  hostility  to  science,  under  the  mask  of 
friendship  to  literature,  the  Jesuits  have  succeeded  in  making 
to  themselves  friends  of  many  who  are  acquainted  with  them 
only  through  the  medium  of  their  writings.  And  it  is  the 
remarkable  fact  of  our  day,  that,  while  on  the  Continent, 
where  they  are  practically  known,  the  Jesuits  have  enlisted 
against  themselves  the  pens  of  its  most  eminent  novelists, 
historians,  and  philosophers,  in  Protestant  England  it  is  quite 
the  reverse.  The  most  talented  of  our  periodical  writers 
have  exerted  all  their  powers  to  white-wash  them,  to  paint 
and  paper  them,  and  set  them  off  with  ornamental  designs ; 
and  where  they  have  not  dared  to  defend,  they  have  tried  to 
blunt  the  edge  of  censure  against  them.  Following  in  the 

*  Letters  from  Spain,  p.  86. 


Ivi  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

same  line  of  defence,  a  certain  class  of  Protestant  writers, 
fond  of  historical  paradox,  and  of  appearing  superior  to  vul- 
gar prejudices,  have  volunteered  to  protect  the  Jesuits.  "  No 
man  is  a  stranger  to  the  fame  of  Pascal,"  says  Sir  James 
Macintosh  ;  "  but  those  who  may  desire  to  form  a  right  judg- 
ment on  the  contents  of  the  Lettres  Provinciates  would  do 
well  to  cast  a  glance  over  the  Entreiiens  d'Ariste  et  d' Euge- 
nie, by  Bouhours,  a  Jesuit,  who  has  ably  vindicated  his 
order."*  Sir  James  had  heard,  perhaps,  of  Father  Daniel's 
Entretiens  de  Cleandre  et  d'Eudoxe,  but  it  is  very  evident 
that  he  had  never  even  "  cast  a  glance  over"  that  book ;  for 
the  work  of  Bouhours,  which  he  has  confounded  with  it,  is  a 
philological  treatise,  which  has  no  reference  whatever  to  the 
Provincial  Letters ;  and  yet  he  could  say  that  the  Jesuit 
"  has  ably  vindicated  his  order !"  Next  to  the  art  which 
the  Jesuits  have  shown  in  smuggling  themselves  into  places 
of  power  and  trust,  is  that  by  which  they  have  succeeded  in 
hoodwinking  the  merely  literary  portion  of  society. 

But,  not  to  dwell  longer  on  these  objections,  the  Provin- 
cials are  liable  to  another  charge,  seldomer  advanced,  and 
not  so  easily  answered ;  which  is,  that  the  loose  casuisti- 
cal morality  denounced  by  Pascal  was  not  confined  to  the 
Jesuits,  nor  to  any  one  of  the  orders  of  the  Romish  Church, 
much  less,  as  Voltaire  says,  to  "  a  few  Spanish  and  Flemish 
Jesuits,"  but  was  common  to  all  the  divines  of  that  Church, 
and  was,  in  fact,  the  native  offspring  and  inevitable  growth 
of  the  practices  of  confession  and  absolution.  It  is  admitted 
that  the  Jesuits  were  mainly  responsible  for  its  preservation 
and  propagation ;  that  they  have  been  the  most  zealous  in 
reducing  it  to  practice  ;  that,  even  after  it  had  incurred  the 
anathemas  of  popes,  bishops,  and  divines,  and  after  it  had 
been  disclaimed  by  all  the  other  orders  of  the  Church,  the 
Jesuits  pertinaciously  adhered  to  it ;  and  that,  even  to  this 
day,  they  have  identified  themselves  with  the  worst  tenets 
of  the  casuists.  But  Protestants  writers  have  generally  al- 

*  Macintosh,  History  of  England,  vo    ii.  359,  note. 


PROTESTANT    CRITICISM.  1V11 

leged,  not  without  reason,  that  the  corruptions  of  casuistical 
divinity  may  be  traced  from  the  days  of  Thomas  Aquinas 
and  Cajetan,  whom  the  Church  of  Rome  owns  as  authori- 
ties ;  that  the  "  new  casuists"  merely  carried  the  maxims  of 
their  predecessors  to  their  legitimate  conclusions';  and  that 
though  condemned  by  some  popes,  the  censure  has  been  only 
partial,  and  has  been  more  than  neutralized  by  the  condem- 
nation of  other  works  written  against  the  morality  of  the 
Jesuits.  Thus,  in  a  work  entitled.  "  Guimenius  Amadeus," 
the  author,  who  was  the  Jesuit  Moya,  boldly  claimed  the 
sanction  of  the  most  venerated  names  in  favor  of  the  modern 
casuists.  This  work,  it  is  true,  was  condemned  to  the  flames 
in  1680,  by  Pope  Innocent  XI.,  who  was  favorable  to  the 
Jansenists ;  but  the  Jesuits  boast  of  having  obtained  other 
papal  constitutions,  reversing  the  judgment  of  that  pontiff, 
whom  they  do  not  scruple  to  stigmatize  with  heresy.*  It 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  Jesuits  have  all  along  succeeded 
in  obtaining  for  their  system  the  sanction  of  the  highest  au- 
thorities in  the  Church  ;  while  those  works  which  undertook 
to  advocate  a  purer  morality  were  printed  clandestinely, 
without  privilege  or  approbation,  under  fictitious  names  of 
authors  and  printers ;  nor  can  it  be  forgotten  that  the  Pro- 
vincial Letters,  the  most  powerful  exposure  of  Jesuitical 
morality  that  ever  appeared,  were  censured  at  Rome,  and 
burnt  by  the  hands  of  the  executioner.f  In  short,  and  with- 
out entering  into  the  question  so  ingeniously  handled  by 
Nicole  and  other  Jansenists,  whether  the  modern  casuists 
were  justified  in  their  excesses  by  the  ancient  schoolmen,  it 
is  undeniable  that  this  is  the  weakest  point  of  the  Provin- 
cials, and  one  on  which  the  thorough-going  Jesuit  occupies, 
on  popish  principles,  the  most  advantageous  ground.  The 
disciples  of  Loyola  constitute  the  very  soul  of  the  Papacy ; 
and  they  must  be  held  as  the  genuine  exponents  of  that  atro- 

*  Eichhorn.  Geschichte  der  Litter.,  vol.  i.  pp.  423-425;  Weisman, 
Hist.  Keel.,  vol.  ii.  21 ;  Jurieu  Prejugez  Legitimes  cont.  le  Papisme,  p. 
386;  Claude.  Defence  of  the  Reformation,  p.  2i). 

f  Jurieu,  Justification  de  la  Morale  de»  Reformez  contre  M.  Arnauld, 
i.  P.  30. 


Iviii  HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION. 

cious  system  of  morals  which,  engendered  in  the  privacy  of 
the  cloister  during  the  dark  ages,  reached  its  maturity  in  the 
hands  of  a  designing  priesthood,  who  still  find  it  too  conve- 
nient a  tool  for  their  purposes  to  part  with  it. 

There  are  other  respects  in  which  we  cannot  fail  to  detect, 
throughout  these  Letters,  the  enfeebling  and  embarrassing 
influence  of  Popery  over  the  naturally  ingenuous  mind  of  the 
author.  Among  all  the  maxims  peculiar  to  the  Jesuits,  none 
are  more  pernicious  than  those  in  which  they  have  openly 
taught  that  disobedience  to  the  Papal  See  releases  subjects 
from  their  allegiance  and  oaths  of  fidelity  to  their  sovereigns, 
and  authorizes  them  to  put  heretical  rulers  to  death,  even 
by  assassination.*  On  this  point  Pascal  has  failed  to  speak 
out  the  whole  truth.  Whether  it  may  have  been  from  genuine 
dread  of  heresy,  or  from  a  wish  to  spare  the  dignity  of  the 
pope,  it  is  easy  to  see  the  timidity,  the  circumspection,  the 
delicacy  with  which  he  touches  on  the  point  of  papal  au- 
thority. 

The  Jansenists  have  been  called  the  Methodists  of  the 
Church  of  Rome ;  but  the  term  is  applicable  to  them  rather 
in  the  wide  sense  in  which  it  has  been  applied,  derisively,  to 
those  who  have  sought  reformation  or  aimed  at  superior 
sanctity  within  the  pale  of  an  established  Church,  than  as 
applied  to  the  party  now  known  under  that  designation. 
They  disclaimed  the  title  of  Jansenists,  as  a  nickname  applied 


*  A  disingenuous  attempt  has  been  sometimes  made  to  identify  these 
nefarious  maxims  with  certain  principles  held  by  some  of  our  reformers. 
There  is  an  essential  difference  between  the  natural  right  claimed,  we 
do  not  say  with  what  justice,  for  subjects  to  proceed  against  their  rulers 
as  tyrants,  and  the  right  assumed  by  the  pope  to  depose  rulers  as  her- 
etics. And  it  is  equally  easy  to  distinguish  between  the  disallowed  acts 
of  some  fanatical  individuals  who  have  taken  the  law  into  their  own 
hands,  and  the  atrocious  deeds  of  such  men  as  Chatel  and  Ravaillac, 
who  could  plead  the  authority  of  Mariana  the  Jesuit,  that  "  to  put  ty- 
rannical princes  to  death  is  not  only  a  lawful,  but  a  laudable,  heroic, 
and  glorious  action."  (Dalton's  Jesuits  ;  their  Principles  and  Acts, 
London.  1843.)  The  Church  of  St.  Ignatius  at  Rome  is  or  was  adorn- 
ed, it  seems  with  pictures  of  all  the  assassinations  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture which  they  have,  most  presumptuously,  perverted  in  justification  of 
their  feats  in  this  department.  (D'Alembert,  Dest.  of  the  Jesuits,  p. 
101.) 


DISADVANTAGES    OF    THE   JANSEXISTS.  ft* 

to  them  by  their  adversaries.  They  held  themselves  to  be 
the  true  Catholics,  the  representatives  of  the  Church  as  it 
existed  down,  at  least,  to  the  days  of  St.  Bernard,  whom 
they  termed  "  the  last  of  the  fathers."  They  ascribed  a  spe- 
cies of  semi-inspiration  to  the  early  fathers  of  the  Church. 
They  reverenced  the  Scriptures,  but  received  them  at  second- 
hand, through  the  medium  of  tradition.  To  be  a  Catholic 
and  a  Christian  were  with  them  convertible  terms.  Hence 
the  horror  evinced  by  Pascal,  in  his  concluding  letters,  at 
the  bare  thought  of  "heresy  existing  in  the  Church." 
'•'Embarrassed  at  every  step,"  it  has  been  well  observed, 
"  by  their  professed  submission  to  the  authority  of  the  popes, 
galled  and  oppressed  by  their  necessary  acquiescence  in  the 
flagrant  errors  of  their  Church,  these  good  men  made  profes- 
sion of  the  great  truths  of  Christianity  under  an  incompara- 
bly heavier  weight  of  disadvantage  than  has  been  sustained 
by  any  other  class  of  Christians  from  the  apostolic  to  the 
present  times.  Enfeebled  by  the  enthusiasm  to  which  they 
clung,  the  piety  of  these  admirable  men  failed  in  the  force 
necessary  to  carry  them  through  the  conflict  with  their  atro- 
cious enemy,  '  the  Society.'  They  were  themselves  in  too 
many  points  vulnerable  to  close  fearlessly  with  their  adver- 
sary, and  they  grasped  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  in  too  infirm 

a  manner  to  drive  home  a  deadly  thrust The  Jan- 

senists  and  the  inmates  of  Port-Royal  displayed  a  constancy 
that  would  doubtless  have  carried  them  through  the  fires  of 
martyrdom  ;  but  the  intellectual  courage  necessary  to  bear 
them  fearlessly  through  an  examination  of  the  errors  of  the 
papal  superstition,  could  spring  only  from  a  healthy  form  of 
mind,  utterly  incompatible  with  the  dotings  of  religious  ab- 
straction, and  the  petty  solicitudes  of  sackclothed  abstinence. 
The  Jansenists  had  not  such  courage ;  if  they  worshipped 
not  the  Beast,  they  cringed  before  him;  he  placed  his 
dragon-foot  upon  their  necks,  and  their  wisdom  and  their 
virtues  were  lost  forever  to  Franca."* 

*  Taylw,  Natural  Hist,  of  Enthusiasm,  p.  256. 


IX  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  the  policy  of  the  Jesuits  at  present,  as  of  old,  to  deny, 
point-blank,  the  truthfulness  of  Pascal's  statements  of  their 
doctrine  and  policy — to  reiterate  the  exploded  charge  of  his 
having  garbled  his  extracts — and,  after  affecting  to  join  in 
the  laugh  at  his  pleasantry,  and  to  forgive,  for  the  wit's  sake, 
his  injustice  to  their  innocent  and  much-calumniated  fathers, 
to  declare  that,  of  course,  he  could  not  himself  believe  the 
half  of  what  he  said  against  the*m,  nor  comprehend  the  pro- 
found questions  of  casuistry  on  which  he  presumed  to  argue. 
Under  this  affectation  of  charity,  they  dexterously  evade  Pas- 
cal's main  charges,  and  slyly  insinuate  a  vindication  of  the 
heresies  of  which  they  have  been  convicted.  Thus,  in  a  late 
publication,  one  of  their  number  actually  attempts  to  vindi- 
cate the  old  Jesuitical  doctrine  of  probabilism  f*  At  the 
same  time,  they  retain,  with  undiminished  tenacity,  the  moral 
maxims  which  Pascal  condemns.  The  discovery  lately  made 
of  the  Theology  of  Dens,  still  taught  by  the  Jesuits  in  Ire- 
land, is  a  proof  of  this ;  for  it  is  nothing  more  than  a  collec- 
tion of  the  most  wicked  and  obscene  maxims  of  casuistical 
morality.  Matters  are  no  better  in  France.  Dr.  Gillyjnen- 
tions  a  publication  issued  at  Lyons,  in  1825,  which  is  so  bad 
that  the  reviewer  says,  "  We  cannot,  we  dare  not  copy  it ;  it 
is  a  book  to  which  the  cases  of  conscience  of  Dr.  Sanchez 
were  purity  itself."f  The  disclosures  made  still  more  re- 
cently by  M.  Michelet  and  M.  Quinet,  are  equally  startling, 
and  will,  in  all  probability,  issue  in  another  expulsion  of  the 
Jesuits  from  France. 

The  policy  of  the  Society,  as  hitherto  exhibited  in  the 
countries  where  they  have  settled,  describes  a  regular  cycle 
of  changes.  Commencing  with  loud  professions  of  charity, 
of  liberal  views  in  politics,  and  of  an  accommodating  code  of 
morals,  they  succeed  in  gaining  popularity  among  the  non- 

*  De  1'Existence  et  de  1'Institut  des  Jesuites.  Par  le  R.  P.  de  Ra- 
vign  an,de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus.  Paris,  1845,  p  83.  Probabilism  is 
the  doctrine,  that  if  any  opinion  in  morals  has  been  held  by  any  grave 
doctor  of  the  Church,  it  is  probably  true,  and  may  be  safely  followed  in 
practice. 

t  Gilly,  Narrative  of  an  Excursion  to  Piedmont,  p.  156. 


CONCLUDING    REFLECTIONS.  1x1 

religious,  the  dissipated,  and  the  restless  portion  of  society. 
Availing  themselves  of  this,  and  carefully  concealing,  in  a 
Protestant  country,  the  more  obnoxious  parts  of  their  creed, 
their  next  step  is  to  plant  some  of  the  most  plausible  of  their 
apostles  in  the  principal  localities,  who  are  instructed  to  estab- 
lish schools  and  seminaries  on  the  most  charitable  footing,  so 
as  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  the  poor,  while  they  secure 
the  contributions  of  the  rich ;  to  attack  the  credit  of  the  most 
active  and  influential  among  the  evangelical  ministry ;  to  re- 
vive old  slanders  against  the  reformers ;  to  disseminate  tracts 
of  the  most  alluring  description  ;  and,  when  assailed  in  turn, 
to  deny  everything  and  to  grant  nothing.  Rising  by  these 
means  to  power  and  influence,  they  gradually  monopolize  the 
seats  of  learning  and  the  halls  of  theology — they  glide,  with 
noiseless  steps,  into  closets,  cabinets,  and  palaces — they  be- 
come the  dictators  of  the  public  press,  the  persecutors  of  the 
good,  and  the  oppressors  of  all  public  and  private  liberty. 
At  length,  their  treacherous  designs  being  discovered,  they 
rouse  against  themselves  the  storm  of  natural  passions,  which, 
descending  on  them  first  as  the  authors  of  the  mischief, 
sweeps  away  along  with  them,  in  its  headlong  career,  every- 
thing that  bears  the  aspect  of  that  active  and  earnest  religion, 
under  the  guise  of  which  they  had  succeeded  in  duping  man- 
kind. 

What  portion  of  this  cycle  they  have  reached  among  us, 
it  is  needless  to  demonstrate.  They  have  evidently  got  be- 
yond the  first  stage ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that,  in  proof 
of  it,  the  present  publication  may  elicit  a  more  than  ordinary 
exhibition  of  their  skill  in  the  science  of  defamation  and  de- 
nial. It  is  far  from  being  unlikely  that,  at  the  present  point 
of  their  revolution,  they  may  find  it  their  interest,  after  all 
the  mischief  that  Pascal  has  done  them,  and  all  the  ill  that 
they  have  spoken  against  Pascal,  to  claim  him  as  a  good 
Catholic,  and  take  advantage  of  the  prestige  of  his  name  to 
insinuate,  that  the  Church  which  could  boast  of  such  a  man 
is  not  to  be  lightly  esteemed.  And,  in  fact,  it  requires  no 
small  exercise  of  caution  to  guard  ourselves  against  such  an 


l  HISTORICAL    INTRODUCTION. 

illusion.  It  is  difficult  to  characterize  Popery  as  it  deserves 
•without  apparent  uncharitableness  to  individuals,  such  as 
Fenelon  and  Pascal,  who,  though  members  of  a  corrupt 
Church,  possessed  much  of  the  spirit  of  true  religion.  But, 
though  it  would  be  impossible  to  class  such  eminent  and  pious 
men  with  an  infidel  cardinal  or  a  Spanish  inquisitor,  it  does 
not  follow  that  they  are  free  from  condemnation.  It  has  been 
justly  remarked,  that  "  their  example  has  done  much  harm, 
and  been  only  the  more  pernicious  from  their  eminence  and 
their  virtues.  It  is  difficult  to  calculate  how  much  assistance 
their  well-merited  reputation  has  given  to  prop  the  falling 
cause  of  Popery,  and  to  lengthen  out  the  continuance  of  a 
delusion  the  most  lasting  and  the  most  dangerous  that  has 
ever  led  mankind  astray  from  the  truth."*  With  regard  to 
our  author,  in  particular,  it  may  be  well  to  remember,  that 
he  was  virtuous  without  being  indebted  to  his  Church,  and 
evangelical  in  spite  of  his  creed ;  that  his  piety,  for  which 
he  is  so  much  esteemed  by  us,  was  the  very  quality  that  ex- 
posed him  to  odium  and  suspicion  from  his  own  communion  ; 
that  the  truths,  for  his  adherence  to  which  we  would  claim 
him  as  a  brother  in  Christ,  were  those  which  were  reprobated 
by  the  authorities  of  Rome ;  and  that  the  following  Letters, 
for  which  he  is  so  justly  admired,  were,  by  the  same  Church, 
formally  censured  and  ignominiously  burnt,  along  with  the 
Bible  which  Pascal  loved,  and  the  martyrs  who  have  suffered 
for  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus." 

*  Douglas  on  Errors  in  Religion,  p.  113. 


THE   PROVINCIAL  LETTERS, 


LETTER  I. 

DISPUTES  IN  THE   SORBONNE,  AND  THE  INVENTION  OF  PROXIMATE 
POWER — A  'TERM  EMPLOYED  BY  THE  JESUITS  TO  PROCURE  THE 

CENSURE   OF   M.   ARNAULD. 

PARIS,  January  23,  1656. 

SIR, — We  were  entirely  mistaken.  It  was  only  yesterday 
that  I  was  undeceived.  Until  that  time  I  had  labored  under 
the  impression  that  the  disputes  in  the  Sorbonne  were  vastly 
important,  and  deeply  affected  the  interests  of  religion.  The 
frequent  convocations  of  an  assembly  so  illustrious  as  that  of 
the  Theological  Faculty  of  Paris,  attended  by  so  many  ex- 
traordinary and  unprecedented  circumstances,  led  one  to  form 
such  high  expectations,  that  it  was  impossible  to  help  coming 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  subject  was  most  extraordinary. 
You  will  be  greatly  surprised,  however,  when  you  learn  from 
the  following  account,  the  issue  of  this  grand  demonstration, 
which,  having  made  myself  perfectly  master  of  the  subject, 
I  shall  be  able  to  tell  you  in  very  few  words. 

Two  questions,  then,  were  brought  under  examination ;  the 
one  a  question  of  fact,  the  other  a  question  of  right. 

The  question  of  fact  consisted  in  ascertaining  whether  M. 
Arnauld  was  guilty  of  presumption,  for  having  asserted  in 
his  second  letter*  that  he  had  carefully  perused  the  book  of 

*  Anthony  Arnauld.  or  Arnaud,  priest  and  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne, 
was  the  son  of  Anthony  Arnauld,  a  famous  advocate,  and  born  at  Paris, 
February  6,  1612.  He  early  distinguished  himself  in  philosophy  and 
divinity,  advocating  the  doctrines  of  Augustine  and  Port- Royal,  and  op- 


64  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

Jansenius,  and  that  he  had  not  discovered  the  propositions 
condemned  by  the  late  pope ;  but  that,  nevertheless,  as  he 
condemned  these  propositions  wherever  they  might  occur,  he 
condemned  them  in  Jansenius,  if  they  were  really  contained 
in  that  work.* 

The  question  here  was,  if  he  could,  without  presumption, 
entertain  a  doubt  that'  these  propositions  were  in  Jansenius, 
after  the  bishops  had  declared  that  they  were. 

The  matter  having  been  brought  before  the  Sorbonne,  sev- 
enty-one doctors  undertook  his  defence,  maintaining  that  the 
only  reply  he  could  possibly  give  to  the  demands  made  upon 
him  in  so  many  publications,  calling  on  him  to  say  if  he  held 
that  these  propositions  were  in  that  book,  was?  that  he  had 
not  been  able  to  find  them,  but  that  if  they  were  in  the  book, 
he  condemned  them  in  the  book. 

Some  even  went  a  step  farther,  and  protested  that,  after 
all  the  search  they  had  made  into  the  book,  they  had  never 
stumbled  upon  these  propositions,  and  that  they  had,  on  the 
contrary,  found  sentiments  entirely  at  variance  with  them. 
They  then  earnestly  begged  that,  if  any  doctor  present  had 
discovered  them,  he  would  have  the  goodness  to  point  them 
out ;  adding,  that  what  was  so  easy  could  not  reasonably  be 
refused,  as  this  would  be  the  surest  way  to  silence  the  whole 


posing  those  of  the  Jesuits.  The  disputes  concerning  grace  which 
broke  out  about  1643  in  the  University  of  Paris,  served  to  foment  the 
mutual  animosity  between  M.  Arnauld  and  the  Jesuits,  who  entertained 
a  hereditary  feud  against  the  whole  family,  from  the  active  part  taken 
by  their  father  against  the  Society  in  the  close  of  the  preceding  century. 
In  1655  it  happened  that  a  certain  duke,  who  was  educating  his  grand- 
daughter at  Port-Royal,  the  Jansenist  monastery,  and  kept  a  Jansenist 
abbe  in  his  house,  on  presenting  himself  for  confession  to  a  priest  under 
the  influence  of  the  Jesuits,  was  refused  absolution,  unless  he  promised 
to  recall  his  grand-daughter  and  discard  his  abbe.  This  produced  two 
letters  from  M.  Arnauld,  in  the  second  of  which  he  exposed  the  calum- 
nies and  falsities  with  which  the  Jesuits  had  assailed  him  in  a  multitude 
of  pamphlets.  This  is  the  letter  referred  to  in  the  text. 

*  The  book  which  occasioned  these  disputes  was  entitled  Aiigustinus, 
and  was  written  by  Cornelius  Jansenius  or  Jansen,  bishop  of  Ypies, 
and  published  after  his  death.  Five  propositions,  selected  from  this 
work,  were  condemned  by  the  pope ;  and  armed  with  these,  as  with  a 
scourge,  the  Jesuits  continued  to  persecute  the  Jansenists  till  they  ac- 
complished their  ruin. 


DISPUTES    IN    THE    SORBONNE.  65 

of  them,  M.  Arnauld  included ;  but  this  proposal  has  been 
uniformly  declined.     So  much  for  the  one  side. 

On  the  other 'side  are  eighty  secular  doctors,  and  some 
forty  mendicant  friars,  who  have  condemned  M.  Arnauld's 
proposition,  without  choosing  to  examine  whether  he  has  spo- 
ken truly  or  falsely — who,  in  fact,  have  declared,  that  they 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  veracity  of  his  proposition,  but 
simply  with  its  temerity. 

Besides  these,  there  were  fifteen  who  were  not  in  favor  of 
the  censure,  and  who  are  called  Neutrals. 

Such  was  the  issue  of  the  question  of  fact,  regarding 
which,  I  must  say,  I  give  myself  very  little  concern.  It  does 
not  affect  my  conscience  in  the  least  whether  M.  Arnauld  is 
presumptuous,  or  the  reverse ;  and  should  I  be  tempted,  from 
curiosity,  to  ascertain  whether  these  propositions  are  con- 
tained in  Jansenius,  his  book  is  neither  so  very  rare  nor  so 
very  large  as  to  hinder  me  from  reading  it  over  from  begin- 
ning to  end,  for  my  own  satisfaction,  without  consulting  the 
Sorbonne  on  the  matter. 

Were  it  not,  however,  for  the  dread  of  being  presumptuous 
myself,  I  really  think  that  I  would  be  disposed  to  adopt  the 
opinion  which  has  been  formed  by  the  most  of  my  acquaint- 
ances, who,  though  they  have  believed  hitherto  on  common 
report  that  the  propositions  were  in  Jansenius,  begin  now  to 
suspect  the  contrary,  owing  to  this  strange  refusal  to  point 
them  out — a  refusal,  the  more  extraordinary  to  me,  as  I  have 
not  yet  met  with  a  single  individual  who  can  say  that  he  has 
discovered  them  in  that  work.  I  am  afraid,  therefore,  that 
this  censure  will  do  more  harm  than  good,  and  that  the  im- 
pression which  it  will  leave  on  the  minds  of  all  who  know  its 
history  will  be  just  the  reverse  of  the  conclusion  that  has 
been  come  to.  The  truth  is,  the  world  has  become  sceptical 
of  late,  and  will  not  believe  things  till  it  sees  them.  But, 
as  I  said  before,  this  point  is  of  very  little  moment,  as  it  has 
no  concern  with  religion.* 

*  And  yet  "  the  question  of  fact,"  which  Pascal  professes  to  treat  so 
lightly,  became  the  turning  point  of  all  the  subsequent  persecutions  di- 


DO  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

The  question  of  right,  from  its  affecting  the  faith,  appears 
much  more  important,  and,  accordingly,  I  took  particular 
prfhis  in  examining  it.  You  will  be  relieved,  however,  to  find 
that  it  is  of  as  little  consequence  as  the  former. 

The  point  of  dispute  here,  was  an  assertion  of  M.  Arnauld's 
in  the  same  letter,  to  the  effect,  "  that  the  grace  without 
which  we  can  do  nothing,  was  wanting  to  St.  Peter  at  his 
fall."  You  and  I  supposed  that  the  controversy  here  would 
turn  upon  the  great  principles  of  grace  ;  such  as,  whether 
grace  is  given  to  all  men  ?  or,  if  it  is  efficacious  of  itself  ? 
But  we  were  quite  mistaken.  You  must  know  I  have  be- 
come a  great  theologian  within  this  short  time ;  and  now  for 
the  proofs  of  it ! 

To  ascertain  the  matter  with  certainty,  I  repaired  to  my 

neighbor,  M.  N ,  doctor  of  Navarre,  who,  as  you  are 

aware,  is  one  of  the  keenest  opponents  of  the  Jansenists,  and 
my  curiosity  having  made  me  almost  as  keen  as  himself,  I 
asked  him  if  they  would  not  formally  decide  at  once  that 
"  grace  is  given  to  all  men,"  and  thus  set  the  question  at 
rest.  But  he  gave  me  a  sore  rebuff,  and  told  me  that  that 
was  not  the  point ;  that  there  were  some  of  his  party  who 
held  that  grace  'was  not  given  to  all ;  that  the  examiners 
themselves  had  declared,  in  a  full  assembly  of  the  Sorbonne, 
that  that  opinion  was  problematical ;  and  that  he  himself 
held  the  same  sentiment,  which  he  confirmed  by  quoting  to 
me  what  he  called  that  celebrated  passage  of  St.  Augustine : 
"  We  know  that  grace  is  not  given  to  all  men." 

I  apologized  for  having  misapprehended  his  sentiment,  and 
requested  him  to  say  if  they  would  not  at  least  condemn  that 
other  opinion  of  the  Jansenists  which  is  making  so  much 
noise,  "  That  grace  is  efficacious  of  itself,  and  invincibly  de- 

rected  against  the  unhappy  Port-Royalists  !  Those  who  have  read  the 
sad  tale  of  the  demolition  of  Port-Royal,  will  recollect,  with  a  sigh,  the 
sufferings  inflicted  on  the  poor  scholars  and  pious  nuns  of  that  estab- 
lishment solely  on  the  ground  that,  from  respect  to  Jansenius  and  to  a 
good  conscience,  they  would  not  subscribe  a  formulary  acknowledging 
the  five  propositions  to  be  contained  in  his  book. — (See  Narrative  of 
the  Demolition  of  the  Monastery  of  Port- Royal,  by  Mary  Anne  Schim- 
melpenninck  f.  170,  &c.) 


DISPUTES    IN    THE    SORBONNE.  67 

terraines  our  •will  to  what  is  good."  But  in  this  second  query 
I  was  equally  unfortunate.  "  You  know  nothing  about  the 
matter,"  he  said;  "that  is  not  a  heresy — it  is  an  orthodox 
opinion ;  all  the  Thomists*  maintain  it ;  and  I  myself  have 
defended  it  in  my  Sorbonic  thesis."f 

I  did  not  venture  again  to  propose  my  doubts,  and  yet  I 
was  as  far  as  ever  from  understanding  where  the  difficulty 
lay ;  so,  at  last,  in  order  to  get  at  it,  I  begged  him  to  tell 
me  where,  then,  lay  the  heresy  of  M.  Arnauld's  proposition? 
"  It  lies  here,"  said  he,  "  that  he  does  not  acknowledge  that 
the  righteous  have  the  power  of  obeying  the  commandments 
of  God,  in  the  manner  in  which  we  understand  it." 

On  receiving  this  piece  of  information,  I  took  my  leave  of 
him ;  and,  quite  proud  at  having  discovered  the  knot  of  the 
question,  I  sought  M.  N ,  who  is  gradually  getting  bet- 
ter, and  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  conduct  me  to  the  house 
of  his  brother-in-law,  who  is  a  Jansenist,  if  ever  there  was 
one,  but  a  very  good  man  notwithstanding.  Thinking  to  in- 
sure myself  a  better  reception,  I  pretended  to  be  very  high 
on  what  I  took  to  be  his  side,  and  said :  "  Is  it  possible  that 
the  Sorbonne  has  introduced  into  the  Church  such  an  error 
as  this,  '  that  all  the  righteous  have  always  the  power  of 
obeying  the  commandments  of  God  ?'  " 

"  What  say  you?"  replied  the  doctor.  "  Call  you  that  an 
error — a  sentiment  so  Catholic  that  none  but  Lutherans  and 
Calvinists  impugn  it?" 

"  Indeed!"  said  I,  surprised  in  my  turn;  "so  you  are  not 
of  their  opinion?" 


tiie  r  rtujcisictus  iuoi\  Una  siue  ui  i^uus  oci 

while  the  Dominicans  espoused  the  cau 
were  sometimes  called  Thomists. 

t  Sorbonique—an  act  or  thesisof  divinity,  delivered  in  the  h; 
college  of  the  Sorbonne  by  candidates  for  the  degree  of  doctor, 


68  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

"  No,"  he  replied ;  "  we  anathematize  it  as  heretical  and 
impious."* 

Confounded  hy  this  reply,  I  soon  discovered  that  I  had 
overacted  the  Jansenist,  as  I  had  formerly  overdone  the 
Molinist.f  But  not  being  sure  if  I  had  rightly  understood 
him,  I  requested  him  to  tell  me  frankly  if  he  held  "  that  the 
righteous  have  always  a  real  power  to  observe  the  divine 
precepts  ?"  Upon  this  the  good  man  got  warm  (but  it  was 
with  a  holy  zeal),  and  protested  that  b<>  would  not  disguise 
his  sentiments  on  any  consideration — that  such  was,  indeed, 
his  belief,  and  that  he  and  all  his  party  would  defend  it  to 
the  death,  as  the  pure  doctrine  of  St.  Thomas,  and  of  St. 
Augustine  their  master. 

This  was  spoken  so  seriously  as  to  leave  me  no  room  for 
doubt ;  and  under  this  impression  I  returned  to  my  first  doc- 
tor, and  said  to  him,  with  an  air  of  great  satisfaction,  that  I 
was  sure  there  would  be  peace  in  the  Sorbonne  very  soon ; 
that  the  Jansenists  were  quite  at  one  with  them  in  reference 
to  the  power  of  the  righteous  to  obey  the  commandments  of 
God ;  that  I  could  pledge  my  word  for  them,  and  could 
make  them  seal  it  with  their  blood. 

"  Hold  there  !"  said  he.  "  One  must  be  a  theologian  to 
see  the  point  of  this  question.  The  difference  between  us  is 
so  subtle,  that  it  is  with  some  difficulty  we  can  discern  it  our- 
selves— you  will  find  it  rather  too  much  for  your  powers  of 
comprehension.  Content  yourself,  then,  with  knowing  that 
it  is  very  true  the  Jansenists  will  tell  you  that  all  the  right- 
eous have  always  the  power  of  obeying  the  commandments  ; 
that  is  not  the  point  in  dispute  between  us ;  but  mark  you, 

*  The  Jansenists.  in  their  dread  of  being  classed  with  Lutherans  and 
Calvinists.  condescended  to  quibble  on  this  question.  In  reality,  as  we 
shall  see.  they  agreed  with  the  Reformers  for  they  denied  that  any  could 
actually  obey  the  commandments  without  efficacious  grace. 

t  Molinist.  The  Jesuits  were  so  called,  in  this  dispute,  after  Lewis 
Molina  a  famous  Jesuit  of  Spain  who  published  a  work  entitled  Con- 
cordia  Gratias  et  Liberi  Arbitrii.  in  which  he  professed  to  have  found 
out  a  new  way  of  reconciling  the  freedom  of  the  human  will  with  the 
divine  prescience.  This  new  invention  was  termed  Sclent 'a  Media,  or 
middle  knowledge,  All  who  adopted  the  sentiments  of  Molina,  whether 
Jesuits  or  not,  were  termed  Molinists. 


PROXIMATE    POWER.  69 

they  will  net  tell  you  that  that  power  is  proximate.  That 
is  the  point." 

This  was  a  new  and  unknown  word  to  me.  Up  to  this 
moment  I  had  managed  to  understand  matters,  but  that  term 
involved  me  in  obscurity ;  and  I  verily  believe  that  it  has 
been  invented  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  mystify.  I  re- 
quested him  to  give  me  an  explanation  of  it,  but  he  made  a 
mystery  of  it,  and  sent  me  back,  without  any  further  satisfac- 
tion, to  demand  of  the  Jansenists  if  they  would  admit  this 
p)-ozimate  power.  Having  charged  my  memory  with  the 
phrase  (as  to  my  understanding,  that  was  out  of  the  ques- 
tion), I  hastened  with  all  possible  expedition,  fearing  that  I 
might  forget  it,  to  my  Jansenist  friend,  and  accosted  him, 
immediately  after  our  first  salutations,  with  :  "  Tell  me,  pray, 
if  you  admit  tfte proximate  power  ?"  He  smiled,  and  replied, 
coldly :  "  Tell  me  yourself  in  what  sense  you  understand  it, 
and  I  may  then  inform  you  what  I  think  of  it."  As  my 
knowledge  did  not  extend  quite  so  far,  I  was  at  a  loss  what 
reply  to  make ;  and  yet,  rather  than  lose  the  object  of  my 
visit,  I  said  at  random :  "  Why,  I  understand  it  in  the  sense 
of  the  Molinists."  "  To  which  of  the  Molinists  do  you  refer 
me  ?"  replied  he,  with  the  utmost  coolness.  I  referred  him 
to  the  whole  of  them  together,  as  forming  one  body,  and 
animated  by  one  spirit. 

"  You  know  very  little  about  the  matter,"  returned  he. 
"  So  far  are  they  from  being  united  in  sentiment,  that  some 
of  them  are  diametrically  opposed  to  each  other.  But,  being 
all  united  in  the  design  to  ruin  M.  Arnauld,  they  have  re- 
solved to  agree  on  this  term  proximate,  which  both  parties 
might  use  indiscriminately,  though  they  understand  it  di- 
versely, that  thus,  by  a  similarity  of  language,  and  an  appa- 
rent conformity,  they  may  form  a  large  body,  and  get  up  a 
majority  to  crush  him  with  the  greater  certainty." 

This  reply  filled  me  with  amazement ;  but  without  imbi- 
bing these  impressions  of  the  malicious  designs  of  the  Moli- 
nistd,  uhioh  I  am  unwilling  to  believe  on  his  word,  and  with 
which  I  have  no  concern,  I  set  myself  simply  to  ascertain  the 


70  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

various  senses  which  they  give  to  that  mysterious  word  prox- 
imate. "I  would  enlighten  you  on  the  subject  with  all  my 
heart,"  he  said;  "but  you  would  discover  in  it  such  a  mass 
of  contrariety  and  contradiction,  that  you  would  hardly  be- 
lieve me.  You  would  suspect  me.  To  make  sure  of  the 
matter,  you  had  better  learn  it  from  some  of  themselves  ;  and 
I  shall  give  you  some  of  their  addresses.  You  have  only  to 
make  a  separate  visit  to  one  called  M.  le  Moine,*  and  to 
Father  Nicolai."f 

"I  have  no  acquaintance  with  any  of  these  persons," 
said  I. 

"Let  me  see,  then,"  he  replied,  "  if  you  know  any  of  those 
whom  I  shall  name  to  you ;  they  all  agree  in  sentiment  with 
M.  le  Moine." 

I  happened,  in  fact,  to  know  some  of  them. 

"  Well,  let  us  see  if  you  are  acquainted  with  any  of  the 
Dominicans  whom  they  call  the  '  New  Thomists/J  for  they 
are  all  the  same  with  Father  Nicolai." 

I  knew  some  of  them  also  whom  he  named  ;  and,  resolved 
to  profit  by  this  counsel,  and  to  investigate  the  matter,  I 
took  my  leave  of  him,  and  went  immediately  to  one  of  the 

*  Pierre  le  Moine  was  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne.  whom  Cardinal 
Richelieu  employed  to  write  against  Jansenius.  This  Jesuit  was  the 
author  of  several  works  which  display  considerable  talent,  though  little 
principle.  His  book  on  Grace  was  forcibly  answered,  and  himself 
somewhat  severely  handled,  in  a  work  entitled  '  An  Apology  for  the 
Holy  Fathers."  which  he  suspected  to  be  written  by  Arnauld.  It  was 
Le  Moine  who,  according  to  Nicole,  had  the  chief  share  in  raising  the 
storm  against  Arnauld.  of  whom  he  was  the  bitter  and  avowed  enemy. 

t  Father  Nicolai  was  a  Dominican — an  order  of  friars  who  professed 
to  be  followers  of  St.  Thomas..  He  is  here  mentioned  as  a  representa- 
tive of  his  class;  but  Nicole  informs  us  that  he  abandoned  the  princi- 
ples of  his  order,  and  became  a  Molinist  or  an  abettor  of  Pela^ianism. 

\  New  Tkomists.  It  is  more  difficult  to  trace  or  remember  the  vari- 
ous sects  into  which  the  Roman  Church  is  divided,  than  those  of  the 
Protestant  Church.  The  New  Thomists  were  the  disciples  of  Die-jo 
Alvarez,  a  theologian  of  the  order  of  St.  Dominic  who  flourished  in  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  He  was  sent  from  Spain  to  Rome 
in  1596.  to  defend  the  doctrine  of  grace  against  Molina,  and  distin- 
guished himself  in  the  Congregation.  De  Auxilils.  The  New  Thomists 
contended  for  efficacious  srace  but  admitted  at  the  same  time  a  suffi- 
cient grace,  which  was  given  to  all  and  yet  not  sufficient  for  any  actual 
performance  without  the  efficacious.  The  ridiculous  incongruity  of  th..i 
doctrine  is  admirably  exposed  by  Pascal  in  his  second  Utter. 


PROXIMATE    POWER. 

disciples  of  M.  le  Moine.  I  begged  him  to  inform  me  what 
it  was  to  have  the  proximate  power  of  doing  a  thing. 

"  It  is  easy  to  tell  you  that,"  he  replied  ;  "  it  is  merely  to 
have  all  that  is  necessary  for  doing  it  in  such  a  manner  that 
nothing  is  wanting  to  performance." 

"  And  so,"  said  I,  "  to  have  the  proximate  power  of  cross- 
ing a  river,  for  example,  is  to  have  a  boat,  boatmen,  oars, 
and  all  the  rest,  so  that  nothing  is  wanting  ?" 

"  Exactly  so,"  said  the  monk. 

"  And  to  have  the  proximate  power  of  seeing"  continued 
I,  "  must  be  to  have  good  eyes  and  the  light  of  day ;  for  u 
person  with  good  sight  in  the  dark  would  not  have  the  prox- 
imate power  of  seeing,  according  to  you,  as  he  would  want 
the  light,  without  which  one  cannot  see  ?" 

"  Precisely,"  said  he. 

"  And  consequently,"  returned  I,  "  when  you  say  that  all 
the  righteous  have  the  proximate  power  of  observing  the 
commandments  of  God,  you  mean  that  they  have  always  all 
the  grace  necessary  for  observing  them,  so  that  nothing  is 
wanting  to  them  on  the  part  of  God." 

"  Stay  there,"  he  replied  ;  "  they  have  always  all  that  is 
necessary  for  observing  the  commandments,  or  at  least  for 
asking  it  of  God." 

"  I  understand  you,"  said  I ;  "  they  have  all  that  is  neces- 
sary for  praying  to  God  to  assist  them,  without  requiring  any 
new  grace  from  God  to  enable  them  to  pray." 

"  You  have  it  now,"  he  rejoined. 

"But  is  it  not  necessary  that  they  have  an  efficacious 
grace,  in  order  to  pray  to  God  ?" 

"  No,"  said  he ;  "  not  according  to  M.  le  Moine." 

To  lose  no  time,  I  went  to  the  Jacobins,*  and  requested 

*  Jacobins,  another  name  for  the  Dominicans  in  France,  where  they 
were  so  called  from  the  street  in  Paris,  Rue  de  St.  Jacques,  where  their 
first  convent  was  erected,  in  the  year  1218.  In  England  they  were 
called  Black  Friars.  Their  founder  was  Dominick,  a  Spaniard.  His 
mother,  it  is  said,  dreamt,  before  his  birth,  that  she  was  to  be  delivered 
of  a  wolf  with  a  torch  in  his  mouth.  The  augury  was  realized  in  the 
barbarous  humor  of  Doininick,  and  the  massacres  which  he  occasioned 
in  various  parts  of  t!ie  world,  by  preaching  up  crusades  against  the 


72  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

an  interview  with  some  whom  I  knew  to  be  New  Thomists, 
and  I  begged  them  to  tell  me  what  "proximate  power" 
was.  "  Is  it  not,"  said  I,  "  that  power  to  which  nothing  is 
wanting  in  order  to  act  ?" 

"  No,"  said  they. 

" Indeed  !  fathers,"  said  I ;  "if  anything  is  wanting  to  that 
power,  do  you  call  it  proximate  ?  Would  you  say,  for  in- 
stance, that  a  man  in  the  night  time,  and  without  any  light, 
had  the  proximate  power  of  seeing  ?" 

"  Yes,  indeed,  he  would  have  it,  in  our  opinion,  if  he  is 
not  blind." 

"  I  grant  that,"  said  I ;  "  but  M.  le  Moine  understands  it 
in  a  different  manner." 

"Very  true,"  they  replied;  "but  so  it  is  that  we  under- 
stand it." 

"  I  have  no  objections  to  that,"  I  said  ;  "  for  I  never  quar- 
rel about  a  name,  provided  I  am  apprized  of  the  sense  in 
which  it  is  understood.  But  I  perceive  from  this,  that  when 
you  speak  of  the  righteous  having  always  the  proximate 
power  of  praying  to  God,  you  understand  that  they  require 
another  supply  for  praying,  without  which  they  will  never 
pray." 

"  Most  excellent !"  exclaimed  the  good  fathers,  embracing 
me;  "exactly  the  thing;  for  they  must  have,  besides,  an 
efficacious  grace  bestowed  upon  all,  and  which  determines 
their  wills  to  pray ;  and  it  is  heresy  to  deny  the  necessity  of 
that  efficacious  grace  in  order  to  pray." 

"  Most  excellent  !"  cried  I?  in  return  ;  "  but,  according  to 
you,  the  Jansenists  are  Catholics,  and  M.  le  Moine  a  heretic ; 
for  the  Jansenists  maintain  that,  while  the  righteous  have 
power  to  pray,  they  require  nevertheless  an  efficacious  grace ; 
and  this  is  what  you  approve.  M.  le  Moine,  again,  maintains 
that  the  righteous  may  pray  without  efficacious  grace ;  and 
this  is  what  you  condemn." 


heretics.  HP  was  the  (bumler  of  the  Inquisition,  ami  his  order  was,  be- 
fore the  Reformation,  win t  the  Jesuits  were  after  it — the  soul  of  tho 
Roiutsh  hierarchy,  and  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  truth. 


PROXIMATE    POWER.  73 

"  Ay,"  said  they  ;  "  but  M.  le  Moine  calls  that  power 
proximate  power." 

"  How  now  !  fathers,"  I  exclaimed  ;  "  this  is  merely  play- 
ing with  words,  to  say  that  you  are  agreed  as  to  the  common 
terms  which  you  employ,  while  you  differ  with  them  as  to 
the  sense  of  these  terms." 

The  fathers  made  no  reply;  and  at  this  juncture,  who 
should  come  in  but  my  old  friend  the  disciple  of  M.  le  Moine  ! 
I  regarded  this  at  the  time  as  an  extraordinary  piece  of  good 
fortune ;  but  I  have  discovered  since  then  that  such  meetings 
are  not  rare — that,  in  fact,  they  are  constantly  mixing  in 
each  other's  society.* 

"  I  know  a  man,"  said  I,  addressing  myself  to  M.  le 
Moine's  disciple,  "  who  holds  that  all  the  righteous  have  al- 
ways the  power  of  praying  to  God,  but  that,  notwithstanding 
this,  they  will  never  pray  without  an  efficacious  grace  which 
,  determines  them,  and  which  God  does  not  always  give  to  all 
the  righteous.  Is  he  a  heretic?" 

"  Stay,"  said  the  doctor;  "you  might  take  me  by  sur- 
prise. Let  us  go  cautiously  to  work.  Distinguo.\  If  he 
call  that  power  proximate  power,  he  will  be  a  Thomist,  and 
therefore  a  Catholic;  if  not,  he  will  be  a  Jansenist,  and 
therefore  a  heretic." 

"  He  calls  it  neither  proximate  nor  non-proximate,"  said  I. 

" Then  he  is  a  heretic,"  quoth  he  ;  "I  refer  you  to  these 
good  fathers  if  he  is  not." 

I  did  not  appeal  to  them  as  judges,  for  they  had  already 
nodded  assent ;  but  I  said  to  them :  "  He  refuses  to  admit 
that  word  proximate,  because  he  can  meet  with  nobody  who 
will  explain  it  to  him." 

*  This  is  a  sly  hit  at  the  Dominicans  for  combining  with  their  natural 
enemies  the  Jesuits,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  ruin  of  M.  Arnauld. 

t  Distinguo.  •'  I  draw  a  distinction" — a  humorous  allusion  to  the 
endless  distinctions  of  the  Aristotelian  school,  in  which  the  writings  of 
the  Casuists  abounded,  and  by  means  of  which  they  may  be  said  to 
have  more  frequrntly  eluded  than  elucidated  the  truth.  M.  le  Moine* 
was  particularly  famous  for  these  distinguos,  frequently  introducing 
three  or  four  of  them  in  succession  on  one  head  ;  and  the  disciple  in  the 
test  is  made  to  echo  the  favorite  phrase  of  his  master. 

4 


74  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

Upon  this  one  of  the  fathers  was  on  the  point  of  offering 
his  definition  of  the  term,  when  he  was  interrupted  by  M.  le 
Moine's  disciple,  who  said  to  him  :  "  Do  you  mean,  then,  to 
renew  our  broils  ?  Have  we  not  agreed  not  to  explain  that 
word  proximate,  but  to  use  it  on  both  sides  without  saying 
what  it  signifies  ?"  To  this  the  Jacobin  gave  his  assent. 

I  was  thus  let  into  the  whole  secret  of  their  plot ;  and  ris- 
ing to  take  my  leave  of  them,  I  remarked  :  "  Indeed,  fathers, 
I  am  much  afraid  this  is  nothing  better  than  pure  chicanery ; 
and  whatever  may  be  the  result  of  your  convocations,  I  ven- 
ture to  predict  that,  though  the  censure  should  pass,  peace 
will  not  be  established.  For  though  it  should  be  decided 
that  the  syllables  of  that  word  proximate  should  be  pro- 
nounced, who  does  not  see  that,  the  meaning  not  being 
explained,  each  of  you  will  be  disposed  to  claim  the  victory  ? 
The  Jacobins  will  contend  that  the  word  is  to  be  understood 
in  their  sense ; .  M.  le  Moine  will  insist  that  it  must  be  taken 
in  his  ;  and  thus  there  will  be  more  wrangling  about  the  ex- 
planation of  the  word  than  about  its  introduction.  For,  after 
all,  there  would  be  no  great  danger  in  adopting  it  without 
any  sens.e,  seeing  it  is  through  the  sense  only  that  it  can  do 
any  harm.  But  it  would  be  unworthy  of  the  Sorbonne  and 
of  theology  to  employ  equivocal  and  captious  terms  without 
giving  any  explanation  of  them.  In  short,  fathers,  tell  me, 
I  entreat  you,  for  the  last  time,  what  is  necessary  to  be  be- 
lieved in  order  to  be  a  good  Catholic  ?" 

"You  must  say,"  they  all  vociferated  simultaneously, 
"  that  all  the  righteous  have  the  proximate  power,  abstracting 
from  it  all  sense — from  the  sense  of  the  Thomists  and  the 
sense  of  other  divines." 

"  That  is  to  say,"  I  replied,  in  taking  leave  of  them,  "  that 
I  must  pronounce  that  word  to  avoid  being  the  heretic  of  a 
name.  For,  pray,  is  this  a  Scripture  word  ?"  "  No,"  said 
they.  "  Is  it  a  word  of  the  Fathers,  the  Councils,  or  the 
Popes  ?"  "  No."  "  Is  the  word,  then,  used  by  St.  Thomas  ?" 
"No."  "What  necessity,  therefore,  is  there  for  using  it, 
since  it  has  neither  the  authority  of  others  nor  any  sense  of 


PROXIMATE    POWIU.  *75 

itself?"  "  You  are  an  opinionative  fellow,"  said  they;  "but 
you  shall  say  it,  or  you  shall  be  a  heretic,  and  M.  Arnauld 
into  the  bargain ;  for  we  are  the  majority,  and  should  it  be 
necessary,  we  can  bring  a  sufficient  number  of  Cordeliers* 
into  the  field  to  carry  the  day." 

On  hearing  this  solid  argument,  I  took  my  leave  of  them, 
to  write  you  the  foregoing  account  of  my  interview,  from, 
which  you  will  perceive  that  the  following  points  remain  un- 
disputed and  uncondemned  by  either  party.  First,  That  grace 
is  not  given  to  all  men.  Second,  That  all  the  righteous  have  al- 
ways the  power  of  obeying  the  divine  commandments.  Third, 
That  they  require,  nevertheless,  in  order  to  obey  them,  and 
even  to  pray,  an  efficacious  grace,  which  invincibly  determines 
their  will.  Fourth,  That  this  efficacious  grace  is  not  always 
granted  to  all  the  righteous,  and  that  it  depends  on  the  pure 
mercy  of  God.  So  that,  after  all,  the  truth  is  safe,  and  noth- 
ing runs  any  risk  but  that  word  without  the  sense,  proximate. 

Happy  the  people  who  are  ignorant  of  its  existence ! — 
happy  those  who  lived  before  it  was  born! — for  I  see  no 
help  for  it,  unless  the  gentlemen  of  the  Academy ,f  by  an  act 
of  absolute  authority,  banish  that  barbarous  term,  which 
causes  so  many  divisions,  from  beyond  the  precincts  of  the 
Sorbonne.  Unless  this  be  done,  the  censure  appears  certain ; 
but  I  can  easily  see  that  it  will  do  no  other  harm  than  di- 
minish the  credit^  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  deprive  it  of  that 
authority  which  is  so  necessary  to  it  on  other  occasions. 

Meanwhile,  I  leave  you  at  perfect  liberty  te  hold  by  the 
word  proximate  or  not,  just  as  you  please  ;  for  I  love  you 
too  much  to  persecute  you  under  that  pretext.  If  this  ac- 
count is  not  displeasing  to  you,  I  shall  continue  to  apprize 
you  of  all  that  happens. — I  am,  &c. 

*  Cordeliers,  a  designation  of  the  Franciscans,  or  monks  of  the  order 
of  St.  Francis. 

•f  The  Royal  Academy,  which  compiled  the  celebrated  dictionary  of 
the  Fn.-nch  language,  and  was  held  at  that  time  to  be  the  great  umpire 
in  literature. 

^  The  edition  of  lf!57  had  it.  Rendre  la  Sorbonne  meprisable — "  Ren- 
der the  Sorbonne  contemptible" — an  expression  much  more  just,  but 
which  the  editors  durst  not  allow  to  remain  in  the  subsequent  editions. 


LETTER  II. 

OF     SUFFICIENT     GRACE. 

PARIS,  January  29,  1656. 

SIR, — Just  as  I  had  sealed  up  my  last  letter,  I  received  a 

visit  from  our  old  friend  M.  N .  Nothing  could  have 

happened  more  luckily  for  my  curiosity  ;  for  he  is  thoroughly 
informed  in  the  questions  of  the  day,  and  is  completely  in 
the  secret  of  the  Jesuits,  at  whose  houses,  including  those  of 
their  leading  men,  he  is  a  constant  visitor.  After  having 
talked  over  the  business  which  brought  him  to  my  house,  I 
asked  him  to  state,  in  a  few  words,  what  were  the  points  in 
dispute  between  the  two  parties. 

He  immediately  complied,  and  informed  me  that  the  prin- 
cipal points  were  two — the  first  about  the  proximate  power, 
and  the  second  about  sufficient  grace.  I  have  enlightened 
you  on  the  first  of  these  points  in  my  former  letter,  and  shall 
now  speak  of  the  second. 

In  one  word,  then,  I  found  that  their  difference  about  suf- 
ficient "grace  may  be  defined  thus:  The  Jesuits  maintain  that 
there  is  a  grace  given  generally  to  all  men,  subject  in  such  a 
way  to  free-will  that  the  will  renders  it  efficacious  or  ineffica- 
cious at  its  pleasure,  without  any  additional  aid  from  God, 
and  without  wanting  anything  on  his  part  in  order  to  acting 
effectively  ;  and  hence  they  term  this  grace  sufficient,  because 
it  suffices  of  itself  for  action.  The  Jansenists,  on  the  other 
hand,  will  not  allow  that  any  grace  is  actually  sufficient  which 
is  not  also  efficacious ;  that  is,  that  all  those  kinds  of  grace 
which  do  not  determine  the  will  to  act  effectively  are  insuffi- 
cient for  action  ;  for  they  hold  that  a  man  can  never  act  with- 
out efficacious  grace. 

Such  are  the  points  in  debate  between  the  Jesuits  and  the 


OP    SUFFICIENT    GRACE.  77 

Jansenists  ;  and  my  next  object  was  to  ascertain  the  doctrine 
of  the  New  Thomists.*  "  It  is  rather  an  odd  one,"  he 
said  ;  "  they  agree  with  the  Jesuits  in  admitting  a  sufficient 
grace  given  to  all  men ;  but  they  maintain,  at  the  same  time, 
that  no  man  can  act  with  this  grace  alone,  but  that,  in  order 
to  this,  he  must  receive  from  God  an  efficacious  grace  which 
really  determines  his  will  to  the  action,  and  which  God  does 
not  grant  to  all  men."  "  So  that,  according  to  this  doc- 
trine," said  I,  "this  grace  is  sufficient  without  being  suffi- 
cient." "Exactly  so,"  he  replied;  "for  if  it  suffices,  there 
is  no  need  of  anything  more  for  acting ;  and  if  it  does  not 
suffice,  why — it  is  not  sufficient." 

"  But/'  asked  I,  "  where,  then,  is  the  difference  between 
them  and  the  Jansenists?"  "They  differ  in  this,"  he  re- 
plied, "  that  the  Dominicans  have  this  good  qualification,  that 
they  do  not  refuse  to  say  that  all  men  have  the  sufficient 
grace."  "I  understand  you,"  returned  I ;  "  but  they  say  it 
without  thinking  it ;  for  they  add  that,  in  order  to  action,  we 
must  have  an  efficacious  grace  which  is  not  given  to  all ;  con- 
sequently, if  they  agree  with  the  Jesuits  in  the  use  of  a  term 
which  has  no  sense,  they  differ  from  them,  and  coincide  with 
the  Jansenists  in  the  substance  of  the  thing."  "  That  is 
very  true,"  said  he.  "  How,  then,"  said  I,  "  are  the  Jesuits 
united  with  them  ?  and  why  do  they  not  combat  them  a? 
well  as  the  Jansenists,  since  they  will  always  find  powerful 
antagonists  in  these  men,  who,  by  maintaining  the  necessity 
of  the  efficacious  grace  which  determines  the  will,  will  pre- 
vent them  from  establishing  that  grace  which  they  hold  to 
be  of  itself  sufficient  ?" 

"The  Dominicans  are  too  powerful,"  he  replied,  "and  the 
Jesuits  are  too  politic,  to  come  to  an  open  rupture  with  them. 
The  Society  is  content  with  having  prevailed  on  them  so 
far  as  to  admit  the  name  of  sufficient  grace,  though  they 
understand  it  in  another  sense  ;  by  which  manoeuvre  they 
gain  this  advantage,  that  they  will  make  their  opinion  appear 
untenable,  as  soon  as  they  judge  it  proper  to  do  so.  And 
*  The  Dominicans. 


78  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

this  will  be  no  difficult  matter ;  for,  let  it  be  once  granted 
that  all  men  have  the  sufficient  graces,  nothing  can  be  more 
natural  than  to  conclude,  that  the  efficacious  grace  is  not  ne- 
cessary to  action — the  sufficiency  of  the  general  grace  pre- 
cluding the  necessity  of  all  others.  By  saying  sufficient  we 
express  all  that  is  necessary  for  action  ;  and  it  will  serve  little 
purpose  for  the  Dominicans  to  exclaim  that  they  attach  an- 
other sense  to  the  expression ;  the  people,  accustomed  to  the 
common  acceptation  of  that  term,  would  not  even  listen  to 
their  explanation.  Thus  the  Society  gains  a  sufficient  advan- 
tage from  the  expression  which  has  been  adopted  by  the 
Dominicans,  without  pressing  them  any  further;  and  were 
you  but  acquainted  with  what  passed  under  Popes  Clement 
VIII.  and  Paul  V.,  and  knew  how  the  Society  was  thwarted 
by  the  Dominicans  in  the  establishment  of  the  sufficient 
grace,  you  would  not  be  surprised  to  find  that  it  avoids  em- 
broiling itself  in  quarrels  with  them,  and  allows  them  to  hold 
their  own  opinion,  provided  that  of  the  Society  is  left  un- 
touched ;  and  more  especially,  when  the  Dominicans  coun- 
tenance its  doctrine,  by  agreeing  to  employ,  on  all  public  oc- 
casions, the  term  sufficient  grace. 

"  The  Society,"  he  continued,  "  is  quite  satisfied  with  their 
complaisance.  It  does  not  insist  on  their  denying  the  neces- 
sity of  efficacious  grace ;  this  would  be  urging  them  too  far. 
People  should  not  tyrannize  over  their  friends ;  and  the  Jes- 
uits have  gained  quite  enough.  The  world  is  content  with 
words ;  few  think  of  searching  into  the  nature  of  things ;  and 
thus  the  name  of  sufficient  grace  being  adopted  on  both  sides, 
though  in  different  senses,  there  is  nobody,  except  the  most 
subtle  theologians,  who  ever  dreams  of  doubting  that  the 
thing  signified  by  that  word  is  held  by  the  Jacobins  as  well 
as  by  the  Jesuits  ;  and  the  result  will  show  that  these  last  are 
not  the  greatest  dupes."  * 

I  acknowledged  that  they  were  a  shrewd  class  of  people, 

*  Et  la  suite  fera  voir  que  ces  derniers  ne  sont  pas  Its  plus  dupes. 
This  clause,  which  appears  in  the  last  Paris  edition,  is  wanting  in  the 
•rdinary  editions.  The  following  sentence  seems  to  require  it. 


OF  SUFFICIENT  GRACE.  0 

these  Jesuits;  and,  availing  myself  of  his  advice,  I  went 
straight  to  the  Jacobins,  at  whose  gate  I  found  one  of  my 
good  friends,  a  staunch  Jansenist  (for  you  must  know  I  have 
got  friends  among  all  parties),  who  was  calling  for  another 
monk,  different  from  him  whom  I  was  in  search  of.  I  pre- 
vailed on  him,  however,  after  much  entreaty,  to  accompany 
me,  and  asked  for  one  of  my  New  Thomists.  He  was  de- 
lighted to  see  me  again.  "  How  now  !  my  dear  father,"  I 
began,  "  it  seems  it  is  not  enough  that  all  men  have  a  proxi- 
mate power,  with  which  they  can  never  act  with  effect ;  they 
must  have  besides  this  a  sufficient  grace,  with  which  they 
can  act  as  little.  Is  not  that  the  doctrine  of  your  school  ?" 
"It  is,"  said  the  worthy  monk ;  "and  I  was  upholding  it 
this  very  morning  in  the  Sorbonne.  I  spoke  on  the  point 
during  my  whole  half-hour ;  and  but  for  the  sand-glass,  I 
bade  fair  to  have  reversed  that  wicked  proverb,  now  so  cur- 
rent in  Paris  :  '  He  votes  without  speaking,  like  a  monk  in  the 
Sorbonne.' "  *  "  What  do  you  mean  by  your  half-hour  and 
your  sand-glass  ?"  I  asked  ;  "  do  they  cut  your  speeches  by 
a  certain  measure?"  "Yes,"  said  he,  "they  have  done  so 
for  some  days  past."  "  And  do  they  oblige  you  to  speak 
for  half  an  hour  ?"  "  No ;  we  may  speak  as  little  as  we 
please."  "  But  not  as  much  as  you  please,"  said  I.  "  0 
what  a  capital  regulation  for  the  boobies  !  what  a  blessed 
excuse  for  those  who  have  nothing  worth  the  saying !  But, 
to  return  to  the  point,  father ;  this  grace  given  to  all  men  is 
sufficient,  is  it  not  ?"  "  Yes,"  said  he.  "And  yet  it  has  no 
effect  without  efficacious  grace?"  "None  whatever,"  he  re- 
plied. "  And  all  men  have  the  sufficient,"  continued  I,  "and 
all  have  not  the  efficacious  ?"  "  Exactly,"  said  he.  "  That 
is,"  returned  I,  "  all  have  enough  of  grace,  and  all  have  not 


*  H  opine  du  bonntt  comme  un  moine  en  Sorbonne — literally.  "  He 
votes  with  his  cap  like  a  monk  in  the  Sorbonne" — alluding  to  the  cus- 
tom in  that  place  of  taking  off  the  cap  when  a  member  was  not  disposed 
to  speak.  01-  in  token  of  agreement  with  the  rest.  The  half-hour  sand- 
glass was  a  trick  of  the  Jesuits,  or  Molinist  parly,  to  prevent  their  oppo- 
nents from  entering  closely  into  the  merits  of  the  controversy,  which 
required  frequent  references  to  the  lathers.  (Nicole,  i.  184.) 


80  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

enough  of  it— tha;  is,  this  grace  suffices,  though  it  does  not 
suffice — that  is,  it  is  sufficient  in  name,  and  insufficient  in 
effect!  In  good  sooth,  father,  this  is  particularly  subtle 
doctrine  !  Have  you  forgotten,  since  you  retired  to  the  clois- 
ter, the  meaning  attached,  in  the  world  you  have  quitted, 
to  the  word  sufficient  ? — don't  you  remember  that  it  includes 
all  that  is  necessary  for  acting  ?  But  no,  you  cannot  have 
lost  all  recollection  of  it ;  for,  to  avail  myself  of  an  illustra- 
tion which  will  come  home  more  vividly  to  your  feelings,  let 
us  suppose  that  you  were  supplied  with  no  more  than  two 
ounces  of  bread  and  a  glass  of  water  daily,  would  you  be 
quite  pleased  with  your  prior  were  he  to  tell  you  that  this 
would  be  sufficient  to  support  you,  under  the  pretext  that, 
along  with  something  else,  which,  however,  he  would  not 
give  you,  you  would  have  all  that  would  be  necessary  to 
support  you  ?  How,  then,  can  you  allow  yourselves  to  say 
that  all  men  have  sufficient  grace  for  acting,  while  you  admit 
that  there  is  another  grace  absolutely  necessary  to  acting 
which  all  men  have  not  ?  Is  it  because  this  is  an  unimpor- 
tant article  of  belief,  and  you  leave  all  men  at  liberty  to  be- 
lieve that  efficacious  grace  is  necessary  or  not,  as  they  choose  ? 
Is  it  a  matter  of  indifference  to  say,  that  with  sufficient  grace 
a  man  may  really  act  ?"  "  How  !"  cried  the  good  man  ; 
"  indifference  ! — it  is  heresy — formal  heresy.  The  necessity 
of  efficacious  grace  for  acting  effectively,  is  a  point  of  faith — 
it  is  heresy  to  deny  it." 

"  Where  are  we  now  ?"  I  exclaimed ;  "  and  which  side  am 
I  to  take  here  ?  If  I  deny  the  sufficient  grace,  I  am  a  Jan- 
senist.  If  I  admit  it,  as  the  Jesuits  do,  in  the  way  of  deny- 
ing that  efficacious  grace  is  necessary,  I  shall  be  a  heretic, 
say  you.  And  if  I  admit  it,  as  you  do,  in  the  way  of  main- 
taining the  necessity  of  efficacious  grace,  I  sin  against  com- 
mon sense,  and  am  a  blockhead,  say  the  Jesuits.  What  must 
I  do,  thus  reduced  to  the  inevitable  necessity  of  being  a 
blockhead,  a  heretic,  or  a  Jansenist  ?  And  what  a  sad  pas? 
are  matters  come  to,  if  there  are  none  but  the  Jansenists  wh' 
avoid  comincf  into  collision  either  with  the  faith  or  with  re* 


OF    SUFFICIENT    GRACE.  81 

son,  and  who  save  themselves  at  once  from  absurdity  and 
from  error !" 

My  Jansenist  friend  took  this  speech  as  a  good  omen,  and 
already  looked  upon  me  as  a  convert.  He  said  nothing  to 
me,  however  ;  but,  addressing  the  monk :  "  Pray,  father," 
inquired  he,  "  what  is  the  point  on  which  you  agree  with  the 
Jesuits  ?"  "  We  agree  in  this,"  he  replied,  "  that  the  Jes- 
uits and  we  acknowledge  the  sufficient  grace  given  to  all." 
"  But,"  said  the  Jansenist,  "  there  are  two  things  in  this  ex- 
pression sufficient  grace — there  is  the  sound,  which  is  only  so 
much  breath ;  and  there  is  the  thing  which  it  signifies,  which 
is  real  and  effectual.  And,  therefore,  as  you  are  agreed  with 
the  Jesuits  in  regard  to  the  word  sufficient,  and  opposed  to 
them  as  to  the  sense,  it  is  apparent  that  you  are  opposed  to 
them  in  regard  to  the  substance  of  that  term,  and  that  you 
only  agree  with  them  as  to  the  sound.  Is  this  what  you 
call  acting  sincerely  and  cordially  ?" 

"  But,"  said  the  good  man,  "  what  cause  have  you  to  com- 
plain, since  we  deceive  nobody  by  this  mode  of  speaking  ?  In 
our  schools  we  openly  teach  that  we  understand  it  in  a  man- 
ner different  from  the  Jesuits." 

"  What  I  complain  of,"  returned  my  friend,  "  is,  that  you 
do  not  proclaim  it  everywhere,  that  by  sufficient  grace  you 
understand  the  grace  which  is  not  sufficient.  You  are  bound 
in  conscience,  by  thus  altering  the  sense  of  the  ordinary  terms 
of  theology,  to  tell  that,  when  you  admit  a  sufficient  grace  in 
all  men,  you  understand  that  they  have  not  sufficient  grace 
in  effect.  All  classes  of  persons  in  the  world  understand  the 
word  sufficient  in  one  and  the  same  sense ;  the  New  Thom- 
ists  alone  understand  it  in  another  sense.  All  the  women, 
who  form  one-half  of  the  world,  all  courtiers,  all  military 
men,  all  magistrates,  all  lawyers,  merchants,  artisans,  the 
whole  populace — in  short,  all  sorts  of  men,  except  the  Do- 
minicans, understand  the  word  sufficient  to  express  all  that 
is  necessary.  Scarcely  any  one  is  aware  of  this  singular  ex- 
ception. It  is  reported  over  the  whole  earth,  simply  that 
the  Dominicans  hold  that  all  men  have  the  sufficient  graces. 


82  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

What  other  conclusion  can  be  drawn  from  this,  than  that  they 
hold  that  all  men  have  all  the  graces  necessary  for  action ; 
especially  when  they  are  seen  joined  in  interest  and  intrigue 
with  the  Jesuits,  who  understand  the  thing  in  that  sense  ? 
Is  not  the  uniformity  of  your  expressions,  viewed  in  connec- 
tion with  this  union  of  party,  a  manifest  indication  and  con- 
firmation of  the  uniformity  of  your  sentiments  ? 

"The  multitude  of  the  faithful  inquire  of  theologians: 
What  is  the  real  condition  of  human  nature  since  its  corrup- 
tion ?  St.  Augustine  and  his  disciples  reply,  that  it  has  no 
sufficient  grace  until  God  is  pleased  to  bestow  it.  Next 
come  the  Jesuits,  and  they  say  that  all  have  the  effectually 
sufficient  graces.  The  Dominicans  are  consulted  on  this  con- 
trariety of  opinion  ;  and  what  course  do  they  pursue  ?  They 
unite  with  the  Jesuits  ;  by  this  coalition  they  make  up  a 
majority ;  they  secede  from  those  who  deny  these  sufficient 
graces ;  they  declare  that  all  men  possess  them.  Who,  on 
hearing  this,  would  imagine  anything  else  than  that  they 
gave  their  sanction  to  the  opinion  of  the  Jesuits  ?  And  then 
they  add  that,  nevertheless,  these  said  sufficient  graces  are 
perfectly  useless  without  the  efficacious,  which  are  not  given 
to  all! 

"  Shall  I  present  you  with  a  picture  of  the  Church  amidst 
these  conflicting  sentiments  ?  I  consider  her  very  like  a  man 
who,  leaving  his  native  country  on  a  journey,  is  encountered 
by  robbers,  who  inflict  many  wounds  on  him,  and  leave  him 
half  dead.  He  sends  for  three  physicians  resident  in  the 
neighboring  towns.  The  first,  on  probing  his  wounds,  pro- 
nounces them  mortal,  and  assures  him  that  none  but  God 
can  restore  to  him  his  lost  powers.  The  second,  coming 
after  the  other,  chooses  to  flatter  the  man — tells  him  that  he 
has  still  sufficient  strength  to  reach  his  home ;  and,  abusing 
the  first  physician  who  opposed  his  advice,  determines  upon 
his  ruin.  In  this  dilemma,  the  poor  patient,  observing  the 
third  medical  gentleman  at  a  distance,  stretches  out  his  hands 
to  him  as  the  person  who  should  determine  the  controversy. 
This  practitioner,  on  examining  his  wounds,  and  ascertaining 


OF  SUFFICIENT  GRACE.  83 

the  opinions  of  the  first  two  doctors,  embraces  that  of  the 
second,  and  uniting  with  him,  the  two  combine  against  the 
first,  and  being  the  stronger  party  in  number,  drive  him  from 
the  field  in  disgrace.  From  this  proceeding,  the  patient 
naturally  concludes  that  the  last  comer  is  of  the  same  opin- 
ion with  the  second ;  and,  on  putting  the  question  to  him, 
he  assures  him  most  positively  that  his  strength  is  sufficient 
for  prosecuting  his  journey.  The  wounded  man,  however, 
sensible  of  his  own  weakness,  begs  hith  to  explain  to  him  how- 
he  considered  him  sufficient  for  the  journey.  '  Because,'  re- 
plies his  adviser.  '  you  are  still  in  possession  of  your  legs, 
and  legs  are  the  organs  which  naturally  suffice  for  walking.' 
'But,'  says  the  patient,  'have  I  all  the  strength  necessary  to 
make  use  of  my  legs  ?  for,  in  my  present  weak  condition,  it 
humbly  appears  to  me  that  they  are  wholly  useless.'  '  Cer- 
tainly you  have  not,'  replies  the  doctor  ;  '  you  will  never  walk 
effectively,  unless  God  vouchsafes  some  extraordinary  assist- 
ance to  sustain  and  conduct  you.'  '  What !'  exclaims  the 
poor  man,  '  do  you  not  mean  to  say  that  I  have  sufficient 
strength  in  me,  so  as  to  want  for  nothing  to  walk  effectively  ?' 
'  Very  far  from  it,'  returns  the  physician.  '  You  must,  then,' 
says  the  patient,  '  be  of  a  different  opinion  from  your  com- 
panion there  about  my  real  condition.'  '  I  must  admit  that 
I  am,'  replies  the  other. 

"  What  do  you  suppose  the  patient  said  to  this  ?  Why, 
he  complained  of  the  strange  conduct  and  ambiguous  terms 
of  this  third  physician.  He  censured  him  for  taking  part 
with  the  second,  to  whom  he  was  opposed  in  sentiment,  and 
with  whom  he  had  only  the  semblance  of  agreement,  and  for 
having  driven  away  the  first  doctor,  with  whom  he  in  reality 
agreed  ;  and,  after  making  a  trial  of  his  strength,  and  finding 
by  experience  his  actual  weakness,  he  sent  them  both  about 
their  business,  recalled  his  first  adviser,  put  himself  under 
his  care,  and  having,  by  his  advice,  implored  from  God  the 
strength  of  which  he  confessed  his  need,  obtained  the  mercy  he 
sought,  and,  through  divine  help,  reached  his  house  in  peace." 

The  worthy  monk  was  so  confounded  with  this  parable  that 


84  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

he  could  not  find  words  to  reply.  To  cheer  him  up  a  little, 
I  said  to  him,  in  a  mild  tone  :  "  But,  after  all,  my  dear  father, 
what  made  you  think  of  giving  the  name  of  sufficient  to  a 
grace  which  you  say  it  is  a  point  of  faith  to  believe  is,  in  fact, 
insufficient  ?"  "  It  is  very  easy  for  you  to  talk  about  it,"  said 
he.  "  You  are  an  independent  and  private  man ;  I  am  a  monk, 
and  in  a  community — cannot  you  estimate  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two  cases  ?  We  depend  on  superiors ;  they  de- 
pend on  others.  They  have  promised  our  votes — what  would 
you  have  to  become  of  me  ?"  We  understood  the  hint ;  and 
this  brought  to  our  recollection  the  case  of  his  brother  monk, 
who,  for  a  similar  piece  of  indiscretion,  has  been  exiled  to 
Abbeville. 

"  But,"  I  resumed,  "  how  comes  it  about  that  your  com- 
munity is  bound  to  admit  this  grace  ?"  "  That  is  another 
question,"  he  replied.  "  All  that  I  can  tell  you  is,  in  one 
word,  that  our  order  has  defended,  to  the  utmost  of  its  abil- 
ity, the  doctrine  of  St.  Thomas  on  efficacious  grace.  Witrh 
what  ardor  did  it  oppose,  from  the  very  commencement,  the 
doctrine  of  Molina  ?  How  did  it  labor  to  establish  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  efficacious  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  Don't  you 
know  what  happened  under  Clement  VIII.  and  Paul  V.,  and 
how  the  former  having  been  prevented  by  death,  and  the 
latter  hindered  by  some  Italian  affairs  from  publishing  his 
bull,  our  arms  still  sleep  in  the  Vatican  ?  But  the  Jesuits, 
availing  themselves,  since  the  introduction  of  the  heresy  of 
Luther  and  Calvin,  of  the  scanty  light  which  the  people  pos- 
sess for  discriminating  between  the  error  of  these  men  and 
the  truth  of  the  doctrine  of  St.  Thomas,  disseminated  their 
principles  with  such  rapidity  and  success,  that  they  became, 
ere  long,  masters  of  the  popular  belief;  while  we,  on  our 
part,  found  ourselves  in  the  predicament  of  being  denounced 
as  Calvinists,  and  treated  as  the  Jansenists  are  at  present,  un- 
less we  qualified  the  efficacious  grace  with,  at  least,  the  ap- 
parent avowal  of  a  sufficient*  In  this  extremity,  what  bet- 

*  "  It  is  certain,"  says  Bayle,  "  that  the  obligation  which  the  Romish 
Church  is  under  to  respect  the  doctrine  of  St.  Augustine  on  the  subject 


OF  SUFFICIENT  GRACE.  85 

ter  course  could  we  have  taken  for  saving  the  truth,  without 
losing  our  own  credit,  than  by  admitting  the  name  of  suffi- 
cient grace,  while  we  denied  that  it  was  such  in  effect  ?  Such 
is  the  real  history  of  the  case." 

This  was  spoken  in  such  a  melancholy  tone,  that  I  really 
began  to  pity  the  man;  not  so,  however,  my  companion. 
"Flatter  not  yourselves,"  said  he  to  the  monk,  "with  hav- 
ing saved  the  truth ;  had  she  not  found  other  defenders,  in 
your  feeble  hands  she  must  have  perished.  By  admitting 
into  the  Church  the  name  of  her  enemy,  you  have  admitted 
the  enemy  himself.  Names  are  inseparable  from  things.  If 
the  term  sufficient  grace  be  once  established,  it  will  be  vain 
for  you  to  protest  that  you  understand  by  it  a  grace  which  is 
not  sufficient.  Your  protest  will  be  held  inadmissible.  Your 
explanation  would  be  scouted  as  odious  in  the  world,  where 
men  speak  more  ingenuously  about  matters  of  infinitely  less 
moment.  The  Jesuits  will  gain  a  triumph — it  will  be  their 
grace,  which  is  sufficient,  in  fact,  and  not  yours,  which  is  only 
so  in  name,  that  will  pass  as  established ;  and  the  converse 
of  your  creed  will  become  an  article  of  faith." 

"  We  will  all  suffer  martyrdom  first,"  cried  the  father, 
"  rather  than  consent  to  the  establishment  of  sufficient  grace 
in  the  sense  of  the  Jesuits.  St.  Thomas,  whom  we  have 


of  grace,  in  consequence  of  its  having  received  the  sanction  of  Popes 
and  Councils  at  various  times,  placed  it  in  a  very  awkward  and  ridicu- 
lous situation.  It  is  so  obvious  to  every  man  who  examines  the  matter 
without  prejudice,  and  with  the  necessary  means  of  information,  that 
the  doctrine  of  Augustine  and  that  of  Jansenius  are  one  and  the  same, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  see,  without  feelings  of  indignation,  the  Court  of 
Rome  boasting  of  having  condemned  Jansenius,  and  nevertheless  pre- 
serving to  St.  Augustine  all  his  glory.  The  two  things  are  utterly  irre- 
concilable. What  is  more,  the  Council  of  Trent,  by  condemning  the 
doctrine  of  Calvin  on  free-will,  has,  by  necessity,  condemned  that  of  St. 
Augustine ;  for  there  is  no  Calvinist  who  has  denied,  or  who  can  deny, 
the  concourse  of  the  human  will  and  the  liberty  of  the  soul,  in  the  sense 
which  St.  Augustine  gives  to  the  words  concourse,  co-operation,  and 
liberty.  There  is  no  Calvinist  who  does  not  acknowledge  the  freedom 
of  the  will,  and  its  use  in  conversion,  if  that  word  is  understood  accord- 
ing to  the  ideas  of  St.  Augustine.  Those  whom  the  Council  of  Trent 
condemns  do  not  reject  free-will,  except  as  signifying  the  liberty  of  indif- 
ference. The  Thomists,  also,  reject  it  under  this  notion,  and  yet  they 
pass  for  very  good  Catholics."  (Bayle's  Diet.,  art.  Augustine.') 


86  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

sworn  to  follow  even  to  the  death,  is  diametrically  opposed 
to  such  doctrine."* 

To  this  my  friend,  who  took  up  the  matter  more  seriously 
than  I  did,  replied :  "  Come  now,  father,  your  fraternity  has 
received  an  honor  which  it  sadly  abuses.  It  abandons  that 
grace  which  was  confided  to  its  care,  and  which  has  never 
been  abandoned  since  the  creation  of  the  world.  That  vic- 
torious grace,  which  was  waited  for  by  the  patriarchs,  pre- 
dicted by  the  prophets,  introduced  by  Jesus  Christ,  preached 
by  St.  Paul,  explained  by  St.  Augustine,  the  greatest  of  the 
fathers,  embraced  by  his  followers,  confirmed  by  St.  Bernard, 
the  last  of  the  fathers,f  supported  by  St.  Thomas,  the  angel 
of  the  schools.J  transmitted  by  him  to  your  order,  maintained 
by  so  many  of  your  fathers,  and  so  nobly  defended  by  your 
monks  under  popes  Clement  and  Paul — that  efficacious  grace, 
which  had  been  committed  as  a  sacred  deposit  into  your  hands, 
that  it  might  find,  in  a  sacred  and  everlasting  order,  a  succes- 
sion of  preachers,  who  might  proclaim  it  to  the  end  of  time — 
is  discarded  and  deserted  for  interests  the  most  contemptible. 
It  is  high  time  for  other  hands  to  arm  in  its  quarrel.  It  is 
time  for  God  to  raise  up  intrepid  disciples  of  the  Doctor  of 
grace,§  who,  strangers  to  the  entanglements  of  the  world, 
will  serve  God  for  God's  sake.  Grace  may  not,  indeed,  num- 
ber the  Dominicans  among  her  champions,  but  champions  she 
shall  never  want ;  for,  by  her  own  almighty  energy,  she  cre- 
ates them  for  herself.  She  demands  hearts  pure  and  disen- 

*  It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  Roman  Church,  which  boasts  so  much 
of  her  unity,  and  is  ever  charging  the  Reformed  with  being  Calvinists, 
Lutherans,  &c.,  is,  in  reality,  divided  into  numerous  conflicting  sects, 
each  siforn  to  uphold  the  peculiar  sentiments  of  its  founder.  If  there 
is  one  principle  more  essential  than  another  to  the  Reformation,  it  is  that 
of  entire  independence  of  all  masters  in  the  faith :  "  Nullius  addictus 
jurare  in  verba  magistri." 

f  ':The  famous  St.  Bernard,  abbot  of  Clairval,  whose  influence 
throughout  all  Europe  was  incredible — whose  word  was  a  law.  and 
•whose  counsels  were  regarded  by  kings  and  princes  as  so  many  orders 
to  which  the  most  respectful  obedience  was  due ;  this  eminent  ecclesiastic 
was  the  person  who  contributed  most  to  enrich  and  aggrandize  the  Cis- 
tercian order."  (Mosh.  Eccl.  Hist.,  cent,  xii.) 

^  Thomas  Aquinas,  a  scholastic  divine  of  the  thirteenth  century,  who 
was  termed  the  Angelic  Doctor. 

$  Augustine. 


OF   SUFFICIENT    GRACE.  87 

gaged ;  nay,  she  herself  purifies  and  disengages  them  from 
worldly  interests,  incompatible  with  the  truths  of  the  Gospel. 
Reflect  seriously  on  this,  father ;  and  take  care  that  God  does 
not  remove  this  candlestick  from  its  place,  leaving  you  in 
darkness,  and  without  the  crown,  as  a  punishment  for  the 
coldness  which  you  manifest  to  a  cause  so  important  to  his 
Church."* 

He  might  have  gone  on  in  this  strain  much  longer,  for  he 
was  kindling  as  he  advanced,  but  I  interrupted  him  by  rising 
to  take  my  leave,  and  said :  "  Indeed,  my  dear  father,  had  I 
any  influence  in  France,  I  should  have  it  proclaimed,  by  sound 
of  trumpet :  '  BE  IT  KNOWN  TO  ALL  MEN,  that  when  the  Jaco- 
bins SAY  that  sufficient  grace  is  given  to  all,  they  MEAN  that 
all  have  not  the  grace  which  actually  suffices  /'  After  which, 
you  might  say  it  as  often  as  you  please,  but  not  otherwise." 
And  thus  ended  our  visit. 

You  will  perceive,  therefore,  that  we  have  here  a  politic 
sufficiency  somewhat  similar  to  proximate  power.  Meanwhile 
I  may  tell  you,  that  it  appears  to  me  that  both  the  proximate 
power  and  this  same  sufficient  grace  may  be  safely  doubted 
by  anybody,  provided  he  is  not  a  Jacobin.]- 

I  have  just  come  to  learn,  when  closing  my  letter,  that  the 
censure*  has  passed.  But  as  I  do  not  yet  know  in  what 
terms  it  is  worded,  and  as  it  will  not  be  published  till  the 
15th  of  February,  I  shall  delay  writing  you  about  it  till  the 
next  post. — I  am,  &c. 

*  Who  can  help  regretting  that  sentiments  so  evangelical,  so  truly 
noble,  and  so  eloquently  expressed,  should  have  been  held  by  Pascal 
in  connection  with  a  Church  which  denounced  him  as  a  heretic  for  up- 
holding them ! 

t  An  ironical  reflection  on  the  cowardly  compromise  of  the  Jacobins, 
or  Dominicans,  for  having  pledged  themselves  to  the  use  of  the  terra 
"  sufficient,"  in  order  to  please  the  Jesuits. 

:f  The  censure  of  the  Theological  Faculty  of  the  Sorbonne  passed 
against  M.  Arnault! ,  and  which  is  fuL  j  discussed  in  Letter  iii. 


88  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 


REPLY  OF  THE  "PROVINCIAL"  TO  THE  JIRST 
TWO  LETTERS  OF  HIS  FRIEND. 

February  2,  1656. 

SIR, — Your  two  letters  have  not  been  confined  to  me. 
Everybody  has  seen  them,  everybody  understands  them,  and 
everybody  believes  them.  They  are  not  only  in  high  repute 
among  theologians — they  have  proved  agreeable  to  men  of 
the  world,  and  intelligible  even  to  the  ladies. 

In  a  communication  which  I  lately  received  from  one  of 
the  gentlemen  of  the  Academy — one  of  the  most  illustrious 
names  in  a  society  of  men  who  are  all  illustrious — who  had 
seen  only  your  first  letter,  he  writes  me  as  follows  :  "  I  only 
wish  that  the  Sorbonne,  which  owes  so  much  to  the  memory 
of  the  late  cardinal,*  would  acknowledge  the  jurisdiction  of 
his  French  Academy.  The  author  of  the  letter  would  be 
satisfied ;  for,  in  the  capacity  of  an  academician,  I  would 
authoritatively  condemn,  I  would  banish,  I  would  proscribe 
— I  had  almost  said  exterminate — to  the  extent  of  my  power, 
this  proximate  power,  which  makes  so  much  noise  about 
nothing,  and  without  knowing  what  it  would  have.  The 
misfortune  is,  that  our  academic  '  power'  is  a  very  limited 
and  remote  power.  I  am  sorry  for  it ;  and  still  more  sorry 
that  my  small  power  cannot  discharge  me  from  my  obliga- 
tions to  you,"  &c. 

My  next  extract  is  from  the  pen  of  a  lady,  whom  I  shall 
not  indicate  in  any  way  whatever.  She  writes  thus  to  a 
female  friend  who  had  transmitted  to  her  the  first  of  your 
letters  :  "  You  can  have  no  idea  how  much  I  am  obliged  to 
you  for  the  letter  you  sent  me — it  is  so  very  ingenious,  and 
so  nicely  written.  It  narrates,  and  yet  it  is  not  a  narrative ; 
it  clears  up  the  most  intricate  and  involved  of  all  possible 

*  The  Cardinal  de  Richelieu,  the  celebrated  founder  of  the  French 
Academy.  The  Sorbonne  owed  its  magnificence  to  the  liberality  of  this 
eminent  statesman,  who  rebuilt  its  house,  enlarged  its  revenues,  en- 
riched its  library,  and  took  it  under  his  special  patronage. 


REPLY   TO    THE    FIRST   TWO    LETTERS.  89 

matters  ;  its  raillery  is  exquisite  ;  it  enlightens  those  who 
know  little  about  the  subject,  and  imparts  double  delight  to 
those  who  understand  it.  It  is  an  admirable  apology ;  and, 
if  they  would  so  take  it,  a  delicate  and  innocent  censure. 
In  short,  that  letter  displays  so  much  art,  so  much  spirit, 
and  so  much  judgment,  that  I  burn  with  curiosity  to  know 
who  wrote  it,"  &c. 

You  too,  perhaps,  would  like  to  know  who  the  lady  is  that 
writes  in  this  style ;  but  you  must  be  content  to  esteem 
without  knowing  her ;  when  you  come  to  know  her,  your 
esteem  will  be  greatly  enhanced. 

Take  my  word  for  it,  then,  and  continue  your  letters  ;  and 
let  the  censure  come  when  it  may,  we  are  quite  prepared  for 
receiving  it.  These  words,  "  proximate  power,"  and  "  suffi- 
cient grace,"  with  which  we  are  threatened,  will  frighten  us 
no  longer.  We  have  learned  from  the  Jesuits,  the  Jacobins, 
and  M.  le  Moine,  in  how  many  different  ways  they  may  be 
turned,  and  how  little  solidity  there  is  in  these  new-fangled 
terms,  to  give  ourselves  any  trouble  about  them. — Mean- 
while, I  remain,  &c. 


LETTER  III. 

/HJtSTICB,  ABSURDITY,  AND   NULLITY  OF   THE   CENSURE   OH     . 
M.   ARNAULD. 

PARIS,  February  9,  1656. 

SIR, — I  have  just  received  your  letter ;  and,  at  the  same 
time,  there  was  brought  me  a  copy  of  the  censure  in  manu- 
script. I  find  that  I  am  as  well  treated  in  the  former,  as  M. 
Arnauld  is  ill-treated  in  the  latter.  I  am  afraid  there  is  some 
extravagance  in  both  cases,  and  that  neither  of  us  is  suffi- 
ciently well  known  by  our  judges.  Sure  I  am,  that  were  we 
better  known,  M.  Arnauld  would  merit  the  approval  of  the 
Sorbonne,  and  I  the  censure  of  the  Academy.  Thus  our  in- 
terests are  quite  at  variance  with  each  other.  It  is  his  inter- 
est to  make  himself  known,  to  vindicate  his  innocence ; 
whereas  it  is  mine  to  remain  in  the  dark,  for  fear  of  forfeiting 
my  reputation.  Prevented,  therefore,  from  showing  my  face, 
I  must  devolve  on  you  the  task  of  making  my  acknowledg- 
ments to  my  illustrious  admirers,  while  I  undertake  that  of 
furnishing  you  with  the  news  of  the  censure. 

I  assure  you,  sir,  it  has  filled  me  with  astonishment.  I 
expected  to  find  it  condemning  the  most  shocking  heresy  in 
the  world,  but  your  wonder  will  equal  mine,  when  informed 
that  these  alarming  preparations,  when  on  the  point  of  pro- 
ducing the  grand  effect  anticipated,  have  all  ended  in  smoke. 

To  understand  the  whole  affair  in  a  pleasant  way,  only 
recollect,  I  beseech  you,  the  strange  impressions  which,  for 
a  long  time  past,  we  have  been  taught  to  form  of  the  Jan- 
senists.  Kecall  to  mind  the  cabals,  the  factions,  the  errors, 
the  schisms,  the  outrages,  with  which  they  have  been  so  long 
charged ;  the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  denounced 


THE  CENSURE.  91 

and  vilified  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press  ;  and  the  degree 
to  which  this  torrent  of  abuse,  so  remarkable  for  its  violence 
and  duration,  has  swollen  of  late  years,  when  they  have  been 
openly  and  publicly  accused  of  being  not  only  heretics  and 
schismatics,  but  apostates  and  infidels — with  "denying  the 
mystery  of  transubstantiation,  and  renouncing  Jesus  Christ 
and  the  Gospel."* 

After  having  published  these  startlingf  accusations,  it  was 
resolved  to  examine  their  writings,  in  order  to  pronounce 
judgment  on  them.  For  this  purpose  the  second  letter  of 
M.  Arnauld,  which  was  reported  to  be  full  of  the  greatest 
errors.J  is  selected.  The  examiners  appointed  are  his  most 
open  and  avowed  enemies.  They  employ  all  their  learning 
to  discover  something  that  they  might  lay  hold  upon,  and  at 
length  they  produce  one  proposition  of  a  doctrinal  character, 
which  they  exhibit  for  censure. 

What  else  could  any  one  infer  from  such  proceedings,  than 
that  this  proposition,  selected  under  such  remarkable  circum- 
stances, would  contain  the  essence  of  the  blackest  heresies 
imaginable.  And  yet  the  proposition  so  entirely  agrees  with 
what  is  clearly  and  formally  expressed  in  the  passages  from 
the  fathers  quoted  by  M.  Arnauld,  that  I  have  not  met 
with  a  single  individual  who  could  comprehend  the  difference 
between  them.  Still,  however,  it  might  be  imagined  that 
there  was  a  very  great  difference ;  for  the  passages  from  the 
fathers  being  unquestionably  catholic,  the  proposition  of  M. 
Arnauld,  if  heretical,  must  be  widely  opposed^  to  them. 

*  The  charge  of  "  denying  the  mystery  of  transubstantiation,"  cer- 
tainly did  not  justly  apply  to  the  Jansenists  as  such;  these  religious 
devotees  denied  nothing.  Their  system,  so  far  as  the  dogmas  of  the 
Church  were  concerned,  was  one  of  implicit  faith  ;  but  though  Arnauld, 
Nicole,  and  the  other  learned  men  among  them,  stiffly  maintained  the 
leading  tenets  of  the  Romish  Church,  in  opposition  to  those  of  the  Re- 
formers the  Jansenist  creed,  as  held  by  their  pious  followers,  was 
practically  at  variance  with  transubstantiation  and  many  other  errors 
of  the  Church  to  which  they  nominally  belonged.  (Mad.  Schimmel- 
penninck's  Demolition  of  Port-Royal,  pp.  77-80,  &c.) 

t  Atroces — 1;  atrocious."     (Edit.  1657.) 

^  Des  plus  detestables  erreurs — "  the  most  detestable  errors."  (Edit. 
1657.)  Erreurs—  "  errors."  (Nicole's  Edit,  1767.) 

§  HorribleTTent  contraire — !!  horribly  contrary."     (Edit.  1657.) 


92  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

Such  was  the  difficulty  which  the  Sorbonne  was  expected 
to  clear  up.  All  Christendom  waited,  with  wide-opened 
eyes,  to  discover,  in  the  censure  of  these  learned  doctors, 
the  point  of  difference  which  had  proved  imperceptible  to 
ordinary  mortals.  Meanwhile  M.  Arnauld  gave  in  his  de- 
fences, placing  his  own  proposition  and  the  passages  of  the 
fathers  from  which  he  had  drawn  it  in  parallel  columns,  so 
as  to  make  the  agreement  between  them  apparent  to  the 
most  obtuse  understandings. 

He  shows,  for  example,  that  St.  Augustine  says  in  one 
passage,  that  "  Jesus  Christ  points  out  to  us,  in  the  person 
of  St.  Peter,  a  righteous  man  warning  us  by  his  fall  to  avoid 
presumption."  He  cites  another  passage  from  the  same 
father,  in  which  he  says,  "  that  God,  hi  order  to  show  us 
that  without  grace  we  can  do  nothing,  left  St.  Peter  without 
grace."  He  produces  a  third,  from  St.  Chrysostom,  who 
says,  "  that  the  fall  of  St.  Peter  happened,  not  through  any 
coldness  towards  Jesus  Christ,  but  because  grace  failed  him  ; 
and  that  he  fell,  not  so  much  through  his  own  negligence  as 
through  the  withdrawment  of  God,  as  a  lesson  to  the  whole 
Church,  that  without  God  we  can  do  nothing."  He  then 
gives  his  own  accused  proposition,  which  is  as  follows  :  "  The 
fathers  point  out  to  us,  in  the  person  of  St.  Peter,  a  right- 
eous man  to  whom  that  grace  without  which  we  can  do  noth- 
ing, was  wanting." 

In  vain  did  people  attempt  to  discover  how  it  could  pos- 
sibly be,  that  M.  Arnauld's  expression  differed  from  those  of 
the  fathers  as  much  as  truth  from  error,  and  faith  from 
heresy.  For  where  was  the  difference  to  be  found  ?  Could 
it  be  in  these  words,  "  that  the  fathers  point  out  to  us,  in  the 
person  of  St.  Peter,  a  righteous  man  ?"  St.  Augustine  has 
said  the  same  thing  in  so  many  words.  Is  it  because  he  says 
"  that  grace  had  failed  him  ?"  The  same  St.  Augustine, 
who  had  said  that  "  St.  Peter  was  a  righteous  man,"  says 
"  that  he  had  not  had  grace  on  that  occasion."  Is  it,  then, 
for  his  having  said,  "  that  without  grace  we  can  do  nothing  ?" 
Why,  is  not  this  just  what  St.  Augustine  says  in  the  same 


THE    CENSURE.  93 

place,  and  what  St.  Chrysostom  had  said  before  him,  with 
this  difference  only,  that  he  expresses  it  in  much  stronger 
language,  as  when  he  says  "  that  his  fall  did  not  happen 
through  his  own  coldness  or  negligence,  but  through  the  fail- 
ure of  grace,  and  the  withdrawment  of  God  ?"* 

Such  considerations  as  these  kept  everybody  in  a  state  of 
breathless  suspense,  to  learn  in  what  this  diversity  could 
consist,  when  at  length,  after  a  great  many  meetings,  this 
famous  and  long-looked  for  censure  made  its  appearance. 
But,  alas !  it  has  sadly  baulked  our  expectation.  Whether 
it  be  that  the  Molinist  doctors  would  not  condescend  so  far 
as  to  enlighten  us  on  the  point,  or  for  some  other  mysterious 
reason,  the  fact  is,  they  have  done  nothing  more  than  pro- 
nounce these  words  :  "  This  proposition  is  rash,  impious,  blas- 
phemous, accursed,  and  heretical !" 

Would  you  believe  it,  sir,  that  most  people,  finding  them- 
selves deceived  in  their  expectations,  have  got  into  bad  hu- 
mor, and  begin  to  fall  foul  upon  the  censors  themsejves? 
They  are  drawing  strange  inferences  from  their  conduct  in 
favor  of  M.  Arnauld's  innocence.  "  What !"  they  are  saying, 
"  is  this  all  that  could  be  achieved,  during  all  this  time,  by 
so  many  doctors  joining  in  a  furious  attack  on  one  individual  ? 
Cnn  they  find  nothing  in  all  his  works  worthy  of  reprehen- 
sion, but  three  lines,  and  these  extracted,  word  for  word, 
from  the  greatest  doctors  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches  ? 
Is  there  any  author  whatever  whose  writings,  were  it  intended 
to  ruin  him,  would  not  furnish  a  more  specious  pretext  for 
the  purpose  ?  And  what  higher  proof  could  be  furnished 
of  the  orthodoxy  of  this  illustrious  accused  ? 

"  How  comes  it  to  pass,"  they  add,  "  that  so  many  denun- 
ciations are  launched  in  this  zensure,  into  which  they  have 

*  The  meaning  of  Chrysostom  is  good,  but  the  expressions  of  these 
ancient  fathers  are  often  more  remarkable  for  their  strength  than  their 

Srecision.     The  Protestant  reader  hardly  needs  to  be  reminded,  that  if 
ivine  grace  can  be  said  to  have  failed  the  Apostle  Peter  at  his  fall,  it 
can  only  he  in  th>i  sense  of  a   temporary  suspension  of  its  influences; 
and  thrit.  this  withdrawment  of  grace  must  be  regarded  as  the  punish- 
ment, and  not  as  the  cause,  of  his  own  negligence. 


94  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

crowded  such  terms  as  '  poison,  pestilence,  horror,  rashness, 
impiety,  blasphemy,  abomination,  execration,  anathema,  her- 
esy'— the  most  dreadful  epithets  that  could  be  used  against 
Arius,  or  Antichrist  himself;  and  all  to  .combat  an  impercep- 
tible heresy,  and  that,  moreover,  without  "telling  us  what  it 
is?  If  it  be  against  the  words  of  the  fathers  that  they  in- 
veigh in  this  style,  where  is "  the  faith  and  tradition  ?  If 
against  M.  Arnauld's  proposition,  let  them  point  out  the  dif- 
ference between  the  two ;  for  we  can  see  nothing  but  the 
most  perfeet  harmony  between  them.  As  soon  as  we  have 
discovered  the  evil  of  the  proposition,  we  shall  hold  it  in  ab- 
horrence ;  but  so  long  as  we  do  not  see  it,  or  rather  see 
nothing  in  the  statement  but  the  sentiments  of  the  holy 
fathers,  conceived  and  expressed  in  their  own  terms,  how 
can  we  possibly  regard  it  with  any  other  feelings  than  those 
of  holy  veneration  ?" 

Such  is  a  specimen  of  the  way  in  which  they  are  giving 
vent  to  their  feelings.  But  these  are  by  far  too  deep -think- 
ing people.  You  and  I,  who  make  no  pretensions  to  such 
extraordinary  penetration,  may  keep  ourselves  quite  easy 
about  the  whole  affair.  What !  would  we  be  wiser  than  our 
masters  ?  No  :  let  us  take  example  from  them,  and  not  un- 
dertake what  they  have  not  ventured  upon.  We  would  be 
sure  to  get  boggled  in  such  an  attempt.  Why  it  would  be 
the  easiest  thing  imaginable,  to  render  this  censure  itself  he- 
retical. Truth,  we  know,  is  so  delicate,  that  if  we  make  the 
slightest  deviation  from  it,  we  fall  into  error ;  but  this  al- 
leged error  is  so  extremely  fine-spun,  that,  if  we  diverge  from 
it  in  the  slightest  degree,  we  fall  back  upon  the  truth.  There 
is  positively  nothing  between  this  obnoxious  proposition  and 
the  truth  but  an  imperceptible  point.  The  distance  between 
them  is  so  impalpable,  that  I  was  in  terror  lest,  from  pure 
inability  to  perceive  it,  I  might,  in  my  over-anxiety  to  agree 
with  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  place  myself  in  oppositioa 
to  the  doctors  of  the  Church.  Under  this  apprehension,  I 
judged  it  expedient  to  consult  one  of  those  who,  through 
policy,  was  neutral  on  the  first  question,  that  from  him  I 


THE  CENSURE.  95 

might  learn  the  real  state  of  the  matter.  I  have  accordingly 
had  an  interview  with  one  of  the  most  intelligent  of  that 
party,  whom  I  requested  to  point  out  to  me  the  difference 
between  the  two  things,  at  the  same  time  frankly  owning  to 
him  that  I  could  see  none. 

He  appeared  to  be  amused  at  my  simplicity,  and  replied, 
with  a  smile  :  "  How  simple  it  is  in  you  to  believe  that  there 
is  any  difference !     Why,  where  could  it  be  ?     Do  you  im- 
agine that,  if  they  could  have  found  out  any  discrepancy  be- 
ween  M.  Araauld  and  the  fathers,   they  would  not  have 
oldly  pointed  it  out,  and  been  delighted  with  the  opportu- 
nity of  exposing  it  before  the  public,  in  whose  eyes  they  are 
so  anxious  to  depreciate  that  gentleman  ?" 

I  could  easily  perceive,  from  these  few  words,  that  those 
who  had  been  neutral  on  the  first  question,  would  not  all 
prove  so  on  the  second ;  but  anxious  to  hear  his  reasons, 
I  asked  :  "  Why,  then,  have  they  attacked  this  unfortunate 
proposition?" 

"  Is  it  possible,"  he  replied,  "  you  can  be  ignorant  of  these 
two  things,  which  I  thought  had  been  known  to  the  veriest 
tyro  in  these  matters  ? — that,  on  the  one  hand,  M.  Arnauld 
has  uniformly  avoided  advancing  a  single  tenet  which  is  not 
powerfully  supported  by  the  tradition  of  the  Church ;  and 
that,  on  the  other  hand,  his  enemies  have  determined,  cost 
what  it  may,  to  cut  that  ground  from  under  him ;  and,  ac- 
cordingly, that  as  the  writings  of  the  former  afforded  no 
handle  to  the  designs  of  the  latter,  they  have  been  obliged, 
in  order  to  satiate  their  revenge,  to  seize  on  some  proposi- 
tion, it  mattered  not  what,  and  to  condemn  it  without  telling 
why  or  wherefore.  Do  not  you  know  how  the  Jansenists 
keep  them  in  check,  and  annoy  them  so  desperately,  that 
they  cannot  drop  the  slightest  word  against  the  principles 
of  the  fathers  without  being  incontinently  overwhelmed  with 
whole  volumes,  under  the  pressure  of  which  they  are  forced 
te  succumb  ?  So  that,  after  a  great  many  proofs  of  their 
weakness,  they  have  judged  it  more  to  the  purpose,  and 


86  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

much  less  troublesome,  to  censure  than  to  reply — it  "being  a 
much  easier  matter  with  them  to  find  monks  than  reasons."* 

"  Why  then,"  said  I,  "  if  this  be  the  case,  their  censure  is 
not  worth  a  straw  ;  for  who  will  pay  any  regard  to  it,  when 
they  see  it  to  be  without  foundation,  and  refuted,  as  it  no 
doubt  will  be,  by  the  answers  given  to  it  ?" 

"  If  you  knew  the  temper  of  people,"  replied  my  friend 
the  doctor,  "  you  would  talk  in  another  sort  of  way.  Their 
censure,  censurable  as  it  is,  will  produce  nearly  all  its  de- 
signed effect  for  a  time ;  and  although,  by  the  force  of  de- 
monstration, it  is  certain  that,  in  course  of  time,  its  invalidity 
will  be  made  apparent,  it  is  equally  true  that,  at  first,  it  will 
tell  as  effectually  on  the  minds  of  most  people  as  if  it  had 
been  the  most  righteous  sentence  in  the  world.  Let  it  only 
be  cried  about  the  streets  :  '  Here  you  have  the  censure  of 
M.  Arnauld  ! — here  you  have  the  condemnation  of  the  Jan- 
senists  !'  and  the  Jesuits  will  find  their  account  in  it.  How 
few  will  ever  read  it !  How  few  of  them  who  do  read,  will 
understand  it !  How  few  will  observe  that  it  answers  no  ob- 
jections !  How  few  will  take  the  matter  to  heart,  or  attempt 
to  sift  it  to  the  bottom  ? — Mark  then,  how  much  advantage 
this  gives  to  the  enemies  of  the  Jansenists.  They  are  sure 
to  make  a  triumph  of  it,  though  a  vam  one,  as  usual,  for 
some  months  at  least — and  that  is  a  great  matter  for  them — 
they  will  look  out  afterwards  for  some  new  means  of  sub- 
sistence. They  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  sir.  It  is  in  this 
way  they  have  contrived  to  maintain  themselves  down  to  the 
present  day.  Sometimes  it  is  by  a  catechism  in  which  a 
child  is  made  to  condemn  their  opponents ;  then  it  is  by  a 
procession,  in  which  sufficient  grace  leads  the  efficacious  in 
triumph  ;  again  it  is  by  a  comedy,  in  which  Jansenius  is  rep- 
resented as  carried  off  by  devils  ;  at  another  time  it  is  by  an 
almanac  ;  and  now  it  is  by  this  censure."f 

*  That  is,  they  could  more  readily  procure  monks  to  vote  against  M. 
Arnauld.  than  arguments  to  answer  him. 

f  The  allusions  in  the  text  afford  curious  illustrations  of  the  mode  of 
warfare  pursued  by  the  Jesuits  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  first 
refers  to  a  comic  catechism,  in  which  the  simple  anguags  of  childhood 


THE    CENSURE.  97 

"In  good  sooth,"  said  I,  "I  was  on  the  point  of  finding 
fault  with  the  conduct  of  the  Molinists ;  but  after  what  you 
have  told  me,  I  must  say  I  admire  their  prudence  and  their 
policy.  I  see  perfectly  well  that  the^  could  not  have  fol- 
lowed a  safer  or  more  judicious  course." 

"  You  are  right,"  returned  he ;  "  their  safest  policy  has 
always  been  to  keep  silent ;  and  this  led  a  certain  learned 
divine  to  remark,  '  that  the  cleverest  among  them  are  those 
who  intrigue  much,  speak  little,  and  write  nothing.' 

"  It  is  on  this  principle  that,  from  the  commencement  of 
the  meetings,  they  prudently  ordained  that,  if  M.  Arnauld 
came  into  the  Sorbonne,  it  must  be  simply  to  explain  what 
he  believed,  and  not  to  enter  the  lists  of  controversy  with 
any  one.  The  examiners  having  ventured  to  depart  a  little 
from  this  prudent  arrangement,  suffered  for  their  temerity. 
They  found  themselves  rather  too  vigorously*  refuted  by  his 
second  apology.  -  y  •. 

"  On  the  same  principle,  they  had  recourse  to  that  rare  and 
very  novel  device  of  the  half-hour  and  the  sand-glass.f  By 
this  means  they  rid  themselves  of  the  importunity  of  those 
troublesome  doctors^  who  might  undertake  to  refute  all  their 
arguments,  to  -produce  books  which  might  convict  them  of 
forgery,  to  insist  on  a  reply,  and  reduce  them  to  the  predica- 
ment of  having  none  to  give. 

was  employed  ns  a  vehicle  for  the  most  calumnious  charges  against  the 
opponents  of  the  Society.  Pascal  refers  again  to  this  catechism  in  Let- 
ter xvii.  The  second  device  was  a  sort  of  school-boy  masquerade.  A 
handsome  youth,  disguised  as  a  female,  in  splendid  attire,  and  bearing 
the  inscription  of  sufficient  grace,  dragged  behind  him  another  dressed 
as  a  bishop  (representing  Jansenius.  bishop  of  Ypres),  who  followed  with 
a  rueful  visage,  amidst  the  hootings  of  the  other  boys.  The  comedy 
referred  to  was  acted  in  the  Jesuits'  college  of  Clermont.  The  alma- 
nacs published  in  France  at  that  period  being  usually  embellished  with 
rude  cuts  for  the  amusement  of  the  vtflgar,  the  Jesuits  procured  the  in- 
sertion of  a  caricature  of  the  Jansenists,  who  were  represented  as  pur- 
sued by  the  pope,  and  taking  refuge  among  the  Calvinists.  This,  how- 
ever, called  forth  a  retaliation,  in  the  shape  of  a  poem,  entitled  "  The 
Prints  of  the  Famous  Jesuitical  Almanac,"  in  which  the  Jesuits  were 
so  successfully  held  up  to  ridicule,  that  they  could  hardly  show  face  for 
some  time  in  the  streets  of  Paris.  (Nicole,  i.  p.  203.) 

*   Verte.me.nt — -:  smartly."     (Edit  1657.) 

t  See  Letter  ii. 

$  Cet  dartturs—'  those  dactore."     (Edit.  1767.) 
5 


98  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

"  It  is  not  that  they  were  so  blind  as  not  to  see  that  this 
encroachment  on  liberty,  which  has  induced  so  many  doctors 
to  withdraw  from  the  meetings,  would  do  no  good  to  their 
censure ;  and  that  the  protest  of  nullity,  taken  on  this  ground 
by  M.  Arnauld  before  it  was  concluded,  would  be  a  bad  pre- 
amble for  securing  it  a  favorable  reception.  They  know  very 
well  that  unprejudiced  persons  place  fully  as  much  weight  on 
the  judgment  of  seventy  doctors,  who  had  nothing  to  gain 
by  defending  M.  Arnauld,  as  on  that  of  a  hundred  others 
who  had  nothing  {o  lose  by  condemning  him.  But,  upon  the 
whole,  they  considered  that  it  would  be  of  vast  importance 
to  have  a  censure,  although  it  should  be  the  act  of  a  party 
only  in  the  Sorbonne,  and  not  of  the  whole  body ;  although 
it  should  be  carried  with  little  or  no  freedom  of  debate,  and 
obtained  by  a  great  many  small  manoeuvres  not  exactly  ac- 
cording to  order ;  although  it  should  give  no  explanation  of 
the  matter  in  dispute ;  although  it  should  not  point  out  in 
what  this  heresy  consists,  and  should  say  as  little  as  possible 
about  it,  for  fear  of  committing  a  mistake.  This  very  silence 
is  a  mystery  in  the  eyes  of  the  simple ;  and  the  censure  will 
reap  this  singular  advantage  from  it,  that  they  may  defy  the 
most  critical  and  subtle  theologians  to  find  in  it  a  single  weak 
argument. 

"  Keep  yourself  easy,  then,  and  do  not  be  afraid  of  being 
set  down  as  a  heretic,  though  you  should  make  use  of  the 
condemned  proposition.  It  is  bad,  I  assure  you,  only  as  oc- 
curring in  the  second  letter  of  M.  Arnauld.  If  you  will  not 
believe  this  statement  on  my  word,  I  refer  you  to  M.  le  Moine, 
the  most  zealous  of  the  examiners,  who,  in  the  course  of  con- 
versation with  a  doctor  of  my  acquaintance  this  very  morn- 
ing, on  being  asked  by  him  where  lay  the  point  of  difference 
in  dispute,  and  if  one  would  no  longer  be  allowed  to  say 
what  the  fathers  had  said  before  him,  made  the  following  ex- 
quisite replj  :  'This  proposition  would  be  orthodox  in  the 
mouth  of  any  other — it  is  only  as  coming  from  M.  Arnauld 
that  the  Sorbonne  have  condemned  it !'  You  must  now  be 
prepared  to  admire  the  machinery  of  Molinisro,  which  can 


THE  CENSURE.  99 

produce  s.ich  prodigious  overturnings  in  .he  Church — that 
what  is  catholic  in  the  fathers  becomes  heretical  in  M.  Ar- 
nauld — that  what  is  heretical  in  the  Semi-Pelagians  becomes 
orthodox  in  the  writings  of  the  Jesuits ;  the  ancient  doctrine 
of  St.  Augustine  becomes  an  intolerable  innovation,  and  new 
inventions,  daily  fabricated  before  our  eyes,  pass  for  the  an- 
cient faith  of  the  Church."  So  saying,  he  took  his  leave  of 
me. 

This  information  has  satisfied  my  purpose.  I  gather  from 
it  that  this  same  heresy  is  one  of  an  entirely  new  species.  It 
is  not  the  sentiments  of  M.  Arnauld  that  are  heretical ;  it  is 
only  his  person.  This  is  a  personal  heresy.  He  is  not  a 
heretic  for  anything  he  has  said  or  written,  but  simply 
because  he  is  M.  Arnauld.  This  is  all  they  have  to  say 
against  him.  Do  what  he  may,  unless  he  cease  to  be,  he  will 
never  be  a  good  Catholic.  The  grace  of  St.  Augustine  will 
never  be  the  true  grace,  so  long  as  he  continues  to  defend  it. 
It  would  become  so  at  once,  were  he  to  take  it  into  his  head 
to  impugn  it.  That  would  be  a  sure  stroke,  and  almost  the 
only  plan  for  establishing  the  truth  and  demolishing  Molin- 
ism ;  such  is  the  fatality  attending  all  the  opinions  which  he 
embraces. 

Let  us  leave  them,  then,  to  settle  their  own  differences. 
These  are  the  disputes  of  theologians,  not  of  theology.  We, 
who  are  no  doctors,  have  nothing  to  do  with  their  quarrels. 
Tell  our  friends  the  news  of  the  censure,  and  love  me  while 
I  am,  &c.* 

*  In  Nicole's  edition,  this  letter  is  signed  with  the  initials  "  E.  A.  A. 
B.  P.  A.  P.  D.  E.  P."  which  seem  merely  a  chance  medley  of  letters,  to 
quiz  those  who  were  so  anxious  to  discover  the  author.  There  may 
have  been  an  allusion  to  the  absurd  story  of  a  Jansenist  conference 
held,  it  was  sajd.  at  Bourg  Fontaine,  in  1621,  to  deliberate  on  ways  and 
means  for  abolishing  Christianity  ;  among  the  persons  present  at  which, 
indicated  by  initials,  Anthony  Arnauld  was  ridiculously  accused  of  hav- 
ing been  one  under  the  initials  A.  A.  (See  Bayle's  Diet.,  art.  Ant.  Ar- 
nauld. 


LETTER  IV. 

OH  ACTUAL   GRACE   AND   SINS   OF   IGNORANCE. 

PARIS,  February  25,  1656. 

SIR, — Nothing  can  come  up  to  the  Jesuits.  I  have  seen 
Jacobins,  doctors,  and  all  sorts  of  people  in  my  day,  but  such 
an  interview  as  I  have  just  had  was  wanting  to  complete 
my  knowledge  of  mankind.  Other  men  are  merely  copies 
of  them.  As  things  are  always  found  best  at  the  fountain- 
head,  I  paid  a  visit  to  one  of  the  ablest  among  them,  in  com- 
pany with  my  trusty  Jansenist — the  same  who  accompanied 
me  to  the  Dominicans.  Being  particularly  anxious  to  learn 
something  of  a  dispute  which  they  have  with  the  Jansenists 
about  what  they  call  actual  grace,  I  said  to  the  worthy  father 
that  I  would  be  much  obliged  to  him  if  he  would  instruct  me 
on  this  point — that  I  did  not  even  know  what  the  term 
meant,  and  would  thank  him  to  explain  it.  "  With  all  my 
heart,"  the  Jesuit  replied  ;  "  for  I  dearly  love  inquisitive 
people.  Actual  grace,  according  to  our  definition,  '  is  an  in- 
spiration of  God,  whereby  he  makes  us  to  know  his  will,  and 
excites  within  us  a  desire  to  perform  it.' " 

"  And  where,"  said  I,  "  lies  your  difference  with  the  Jan- 
senists  on  this  subject  ?" 

"  The  difference  lies  here,"  he  replied ;  "  we  hold  that  God 
bestows  actual  grace  on  all  men  in  every  case  of  temptation  ; 
for  we  maintain,  that  unless  a  person  have,  whenever  tempted, 
actual  grace  to  keep  him  from  sinning,  his  sin,  whatever  it 
may  be,  can  never  be  imputed  to  him.  The  Jansenists,  on 
the  other  hand,  affirm  that  sins,  though  committed  without 
actual  grace,  are,  nevertheless,  imputed  ;  but  they  are  a  pack 
of  fools."  I  got  a  glimpse  of  his  meaning ;  but,  to  obtain 


ACTUAL    GRACE    AND    SINS    OF   IGNORANCE.  101 

from  him  a  fuller  explanation,  I  observed  :  "  My  dear  father, 
it  is  that  phrase  actual  grace  that  puzzles  me ;  I  am  quite  a 
stranger  to  it,  and  if  you  would  have  the  goodness  to  tell  me 
the  same  thing  over  again,  without  employing  that  term,  you 
would  infinitely  oblige  me." 

"  Very  good,"  returned  the  father ;  "  that  is  to  say,  you 
want  me  to  substitute  the  definition  in  place  of  the  thing  de- 
fined ;  that  makes  no  alteration  on  the  sense ;  I  have  no  ob- 
jections. We  maintain  it,  then,  as  an  undeniable  principle, 
that  an  action  cannot  be  imputed  as  a  sin,  unless  God  bestow 
on  us,  before  committing  it,  the  knowledge  of  the  evil  that  is 
in  the  action,  and  an  inspiration  inciting  us  to  avoid  it.  Do 
you  understand  me  now  ?" 

Astonished  at  such  a  declaration,  according  to  which,  no 
sins  of  surprise,  nor  any  of  those  committed  in  entire  forget- 
fulness  of  God,  could  be  imputed,  I  turned  round  to  my 
friend  the  Jansenist,  and  easily  discovered  from  his  looks 
that  he  was  of  a  different  way  of  thinking.  But  as  he  did 
not  utter  a  word,  I  said  to  the  monk,  "  I  would  fain  wish, 
my  dear  father,  to  think  that  what  you  have  now  said  is  true, 
and  that  you  have  good  proofs  for  it." 

"  Proofs,  say  you  !"  he  instantly  exclaimed  :  "  T  shall  fur- 
nish you  with  these  very  soon,  and  the  very  best  sort  too ; 
let  me  alone  for  that." 

So  saying,  he  went  in  search  of  his  books,  and  I  took  this 
opportunity  of  asking  my  friend  if  there  was  any  other  per- 
son who  talked  in  this  manner  ?  "  Is  this  so  strange  to  you  ?" 
he  replied.  "  You  may  depend  upon  it  that  neither  the 
fathers,  nor  the  popes,  nor  councils,  nor  Scripture,  nor  any 
book  of  devotion,  employ  such  language  ;  but  if  you  wish 
casuists  and  modern  schoolmen,  he  will  bring  you  a  goodly 
number  of  them  on  his  side.''  "  O  !  but  I  care  not  a  fig 
about  these  authors,  if  they  are  contrary  to  tradition,"  I  said. 
"You  are  right,"  he  replied. 

As  he  spoke,  the  good  father  entered  the  room,  laden  with 
books ;  and  presenting  to  me  the  first  that  came  to  hand, 
"  Read  that,"  "  he  said  ;  "  this  is  '  The  Summary  of  Sins,'  by 


102  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

Father  Bauny* — the  fifth  edition  too,  you  see,  which  shows 
that  it  i«  a  good  book." 

"  It  is  a  pity,  however,"  whispered  the  Jansenist  in  my 
ear,  "  that  this  same  book  has  been  condemned  at  Rome,  and 
by  the  bishops  of  France." 

"  Look  at  page  906,"  said  the  father.  .  I  did  so,  and  read 
as  follows :  "  In  order  to  sin  and  become  culpable  in  the 
sight  of  God,  it  is  necessary  to  know  that  the  thing  we  wish 
to  do  is  not  good,  or  at  least  to  doubt  that  it  is — to  fear  or 
to  judge  that  God  takes  no  pleasure  in  the  action  which  we 
contemplate,  but  forbids  it ;  and  in  spite  of  this,  to  commit 
the  deed,  leap  the  fence,  and  transgress." 

"  This  is  a  good  commencement,"  I  remarked.  "  And 
yet,"  said  he,  "  mark  how  far  envy  will  carry  some  people. 
It  was  on  that  very  passage  that  M.  Hallier,  before  he  became 
one  of  our  friends,  bantered  Father  Bauny,  by  applying  to 
him  these  words :  Ecce  qui  tollit  peccata  mundi — '  Behold 
the  man  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world !'  " 

"  Certainly,"  said  I,  "  according  to  Father  Bauny,  we 
may  be  said  to  behold  a  redemption  of  an  entirely  new  de- 
scription." 

"  Would  you  have  a  more  authentic  witness  on  the  point  ?" 
added  he.  "  Here  is  the  book  of  Father  Annat.f  It  is  the 

*  Etienne  Bauni,  or  Stephen  Bauny,  was  a  French  Jesuit.  His 
"  Summary."  which  Pascal  has  immortalized  by  his  frequent  references 
to  it,  was  published  in  1633.  It  is  a  large  volume,  stuffed  with  the  most 
detestable  doctrines.  In  1642,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  French 
clergy  censured  his  books  on  moral  theology,  as  containing  propositions 
"  leading  to  licentiousness,  and  the  corruption  of  good  manners,  violat- 
ing natural  equity,  and  excusing  blasphemy,  usury,  simony,  and  other 
heinous  sins,  as  trivial  matters."  ( Nicole,  i.  164.)  And  yet  this  abomi- 
nable work  was  formally  defended  in  the  "  Apology  for  the  Casuists." 
written  in  1657.  by  Father  Pirot,  and  acknowledged  by  the  Jesuits  as 
having  been  written  under  their  direction !  (Nicole,  Hist,  des  Provin- 
ciales,  p.  30. 

•f  Francis  Annat  was  born  in  the  year  1590.  He  was  made  rector  of 
the  College  of  Toulouse,  and  appointed  by  the  Jesuits  their  French 

Erovincial;  and.  while  in  that  situation,  was  chosen  by  Louis  XIV.  as 
is  confessor.  His  friends  have  highly  extolled  his  virtues  as  a  man  ; 
and  the  reader  may  judge  of  the  value  of  these  eulogiums  from  the  fact, 
that  he  retained  his  post  as  the  favorite  confessor  of  that  licentious 
monarch,  without  interruption,  till  deafness  prevented  him  from  listen- 
ing any  longer  to  the  confessions  of  his  royal  penitent.  (Bayle,  art. 


ACTUAL    GRACE    AND    SINS    OF    IGNORANCE.  103 

last  that  he  wrote  against  M.  Arnauld.  Turn  up  to  page 
34,  where  there  is  a  dog's  ear,  and  read  the  lines  which  I 
have  marked  with  pencil — they  ought  to  be  written  in  letters 
of  gold.  I  then  read  these  words :  "  He  that  has  no  thought 
of  God,  nor  of  his  sins,  nor  any  apprehension  (that  is,  as  he 
explained  it,  any  knowledge)  of  his  obligation  to  exercise  the 
acts  of  love  to  God  or  contrition,  has  no  actual  grace  for 
exercising  those  acts  ;  but  it  is  equally  true  that  he  is  guilty 
of  no  sin  in  omitting  them,  and  that,  if  he  is  damned,  it  will 
not  be  as  a  punishment  for  that  omission."  And  a  few  lines 
below,  he  adds  :  "  The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  a  culpable 
commission." 

"  You  see,"  said  the  monk,  "  how  he  speaks  of  sins  of 
omission  and  of  commission.  Nothing  escapes  him.  What 
say  you  to  that?" 

"  Say  !"  I  exclaimed.  "  I  am  delighted  !  What  a  charm- 
ing train  of  consequences  do  I  ^discover  flowing  from  this 
doctrine !  I  can  see  the  whole  results  already ;  and  such 
mysteries  present  themselves  before  me  !  Why,  I  see  more 
people,  beyond  all  comparison,  justified  by  this  ignorance  and 
forgetfulness  of  God,  than  by  grace  and  the  sacraments  !* 
But,  my  dear  father,  are  you  not  inspiring  me  with  a  delu- 


Annat.)  They  have  also  extolled  his  answer  to  the  Provincial  Letters, 
in  his  "  Bonne  Foy  des  Jansenistes,"  in  which  he  professed  to  expose 
the  falsity  of  the  quotations  made  from  the  Casuists,  with  what  success, 
appears  from  the  Notes  of  Nicole,  who  has  completely  vindicated  Pascal 
from  the  unfounded  charges  which  the  Jesuits  have  reiterated  on  this 
point.  (Notes  Preliminaires,  vol.  i.  p.  256,  &c. ;  Entretiens  de  Cleandre 
et  Eudoxe,  p.  79.) 

*  When  Madame  du  Valois,  a  lady  of  birth  and  high  accomplish- 
ments, one  of  the  nuns  of  Port- Royal,  among  other  trials  by  which  she 
was  harassed  and  tormented  for  not  signing  the  formulary  condemning 
Jansenius,  was  threatened  with  being  deprived  of  the  benefit  of  the  sac- 
raments at  the  hour  of  death,  she  replied :  "  If,  at  the  awful  hour  of 
death,  I  should  be  deprived  of  those  assistances  which  the  Church  grants 
to  all  her  children,  then  God  himself  will,  by  his  grace,  immediately 
and  abundantly  supply  their  instrumentality.  I  know,  indeed,  that  it 
is  most  painful  to  approach  the  awful  hour  of  death  without  an  outward 
participation  in  the  sacraments ;  but  it  is  better  dying,  to  enter  into 
heaven,  though  without  the  sacraments,  for  the  cause  of  truth,  than, 
receiving  the  sacraments,  to  be  cited  to  irrevocable  judgment  for  com- 
mitting perjury."  (Narrative  of  Dem.  of  Port-Royal,  p.  176.) 


104  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

fidency  which  suffices  not  ?  I  am  terrribly  afraid  of  the  Dw- 
tinguo  ; — I  was  taken  in  with  that  once  already  !  Are  you 
quite  in  earnest  ?" 

"  How  now  !"  cried  the  monk,  beginning  to  get  angry  ; 
"  here  is  no  matter  for  jesting.  I  assure  you  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  equivocation  here." 

" I  am  not  making  a  jest  of  it,"  said  I ;  "but  that  is  what 
I  really  dread,  from  pure  anxiety  to  find  it  true."* 

"  Well  then,"  he  said,  "  to  assure  yourself  still  more  of  it, 
here  are  the  writings  of  M.  le  Moine,f  who  taught  the  doc- 
trine in  a  full  meeting  of  the  Sorbonne.  He  learned  it  from 
us,  to  be  sure  ;  but  he  has  the  merit  of  having  cleared  it  up 
most  admirably.  0  how  circumstantially  he  goes  to  work  ! 
He  shows  that,  in  order  to  make  out  an  action  to  be  a  sin, 
all  these  things  must  have  passed  through  the  mind.  Read, 
and  weigh  every  word." — I  then  read  what  I  now  give  you 
in  a  translation  from  the  original  Latin :  "  1.  On  the  one 
hand,  God  sheds  abroad  on  the  soul  some  measure  of  love, 
which  gives  it  a  bias  toward  the  thing  commanded  ;  and  en 
the  other,  a  rebellious  concupiscence  solicits  it  in  the  opposite 
direction.  2.  God  inspires  the  soul  with  a  knowledge  of 
its  own  weakness.  3.  God  reveals  the  knowledge  of  the 
physician  who  can  heal  it.  4.  God  inspires  it  with  a  desire 
to  be  healed.  5.  God  inspires  a  desire  to  pray  and  solicit 
his  assistance." 

"  And  unless  all  these  things  occur  and  pass  through  the 
soul,"  added  the  monk,  "  the  action  is  not  properly  a  sin,  and 
cannot  be  imputed,  as  M.  le  Moine  shows  in  the  same  place 
and  in  what  follows.  Would  you  wish  to  have  other  author- 
ities for  this  ?  Here  they  are." 

"All  modern  ones,  however,"  whispered  my  Jansenist 
friend. 

"  So  I  perceive,"  said  I  to  him  aside ;  and  then,  turning  to 

*  Will  it  be  believed  that  the  Jesuits  actually  had  the  consummate 
hypocrisy  to  pretend  that  Pascal  meant  to  throw  ridicule  on  the  grace 
of  God.  while  he  was  merely  exposing  to  merited  contempt  their  own 
perversions  of  the  doctrine  1 

t  See  before,  page  70. 


ACTUAL    GRACE    AND    SINS    OF   IGNORANCE.  105 

the  monk  :  "  0  my  dear  sir,"  cried  I,  "  what  a  blessing  this 
will  be  to  some  persons  of  my  acquaintance  !  I  must  posi- 
tively introduce  them  to  you.  You  have  never,  perhaps,  met 
with  people  who  had  fewer  sins  to  account  for  all  your  life. 
For,  in  the  first  place,  they  never  think  of  God  at  all ;  their 
vices  have  got  the  better  of  their  reason ;  they  have  never 
known  either  their  weakness  or  the  physician  who  can  cure 
it ;  they  have  never  thought  of  '  desiring  the  health  of  their 
soul/  and  still  less  of  'praying  to  God  to  bestow  it ;'  so  that, 
according  to  M.  le  Moine,  they  are  still  in  the  state  of  bap- 
tismal innocence.  They  have  '  never  had  a  thought  of  loving 
God  or  of  being  contrite  for  their  sins ;'  so  that,  according  to 
Father  Annat,  they  have  never  committed  sin  through  the 
want  of  charity  and  penitence.  Their  life  is  spent  in  a  per- 
petual round  of  all  sorts  of  pleasures,  in  the  course  of  which 
they  have  not  been  interrupted  by  the  slightest  remorse. 
These  excesses  had  led  me  to  imagine  that  their  perdition 
was  inevitable ;  but  you,  father,  inform  me  that  these  same 
excesses  secure  their  salvation.  Blessings  on  you,  my  good 
father,  for  this  way  of  justifying  people  !  Others  prescribe 
painful  austerities  for  healing  the  soul;  but  you  show  that 
souls  which  may  be  thought  desperately  distempered  are  in 
quite  good  health.  What  an  excellent  device  for  being  happy 
both  in  this  world  and  in  the  next !  I  had  always  supposed 
that  the  less  a  man  thought  of  God,  the  more  he  sinned ; 
but,  from  what  I  see  now,  if  one  could  only  succeed  in  bring- 
ing himself  not  to  think  upon  God  at  all,  everything  would 
be  pure  with  him  in  all  time  coming.  Away  with  your  half- 
and-half  sinners,  who  retain  some  sneaking  affection  for  vir- 
tue !  They  will  be  damned  every  one  of  them,  these  semi- 
sinners.  But  commend  me  to  your  arrant  sinners — hardened, 
unalloyed,  out-and-out,  thorough-bred  sinners.  Hell  is  no 
place  for  them  ;  they  have  cheated  the  devil,  purely  by  virtue 
of  their  devotion  to  his  service !" 

The  good  father,  who  saw  very  well  the  connection  be- 
tween   these   consequences   and    his    principle,    dexterously 
evaded  them  ;  and  maintaining  his  temper,  either  from  good 
5* 


106  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 


nature  or  policy,  he  merely  replied :  "  To  let  you  understand 
how  we  avoid  these  inconveniences,  you  must  know  that, 
•while  we  affirm  that  these  reprobates  to  whom  you  refer 
would  be  without  sin  if  they  had  no  thoughts  of  conversion 
and  no  desires  to  devote  themselves  to  God,  we  maintain, 
that  they  all  actually  have  such  thoughts  and  desires,  and 
that  God  never  permitted  a  man  to  sin  without  giving  him 
previously  a  view  of  the  evil  which  he  contemplated,  and  a 
desire,  either  to  avoid  the  offence,  or  at  all  events  to  implore 
his  aid  to  enable  him  to  avoid  it ;  and  none  but  Jansenists 
will  assert  the  contrary." 

"  Strange  !  father,"  returned  I ;  "is  this,  then,  the  heresy 
of  the  Jansenists,  to  deny  that  every  time  a  man  commits  a 
sin,  he  is  troubled  with  a  remorse  of  conscience,  in  spite  of 
which,  he  'leaps  the  fence  and  transgresses,'  as  Father 
Bauny  has  it  ?  It  is  rather  too  good  a  joke  to  be  made  a 
heretic  for  that.  I  can  easily  believe  that  a  man  may  be 
damned  for  not  having  good  thoughts  ;  but  it  never  would 
have  entered  my  head  to  imagine  that  any  man  could  be 
subjected  to  that  doom  for  not  believing  that  all  mankind 
must  have  good  thoughts  !  But,  father,  I  hold  myself  bound 
in  conscience  to  disabuse  you,  and  to  inform  you  that  there 
are  thousands  of  people  who  have  no  such  desires — who  sin 
without  regret — who  sin  with  delight — who  make  a  boast  of 
sinning.  And  who  ought  to  know  better  about  these  things 
than  yourself  ?  You  cannot  have  failed  to  have  confessed 
some  of  those  to  whom  I  allude  ;  for  it  is  among  persons  of 
high  rank  that  they  are  most  generally  to  be  met  with.* 

*  The  Jesuits  were  notorious  for  the  assiduity  with  which  they  sought 
admission  into  the  families,  and  courted  the  confidence  of  the  great,  with 
whom,  from  the  laxness  of  their  discipline  and  morality,  as  well  as  from 
their  superior  manners  and  accomplishments,  they  were,  as  they  still 
are.  the  favorite  confessors.  They  have  a  maxim  among  their  secret 
instructions,  that  in  dealing  with  the  consciences  of  the  great,  the  con- 
fessor must  be  guided  by  the  looser  sort  of  opinions.  The  author  of  the 
Theatre  Jesuitique  illustrates  this  by  an  anecdote.  A  rich  gentleman 
falling  sick,  confessed  himself  to  a  Jesuit,  and  among  other  sins  ac- 
knowledged an  illicit  intercourse  with  a  lady,  whose  portrait,  thinking 
himself  dying,  he  gave  with  many  expressions  of  remorse,  to  his  con- 
fessor. The  gentleman,  however,  recovered,  and  with  returning  health 


ACTUAL  GRACE  AND  SIXS  OF  IGNORANCE.  107 

But  mark,  father,  the  dangerous  consequences  of  your  maxim. 
Do  you  not  perceive  what  effect  it  may  have  on  those  lib- 
ertinog  who  like  nothing  better  than  to  find  out  matter  of 
doubt  in  religion  ?  What  a  handle  do  you  give  them,  when 
you  assure  them,  as  an  article  of  faith,  that  on  every  occasion 
when  they  commit  a  sin,  they  feel  an  inward  presentiment  of 
the  evil,  and  a  desire  to  avoid  it  ?  Is  it  not  obvious  that, 
feeling  convinced  by  their  own  experience  of  the  falsity  of 
your  doctrine  on  this  point,  which  you  say  is  a  matter  of 
faith,  they  will  extend  the  inference  drawn  from  this  to  all 
the  other  points  ?  They  will  argue  that,  since  you  are  not 
trust-worthy  in  one  article,  you  are  to  be  suspected  in  them 
all ;  and  thus  you  shut  them  up  to  conclude,  either  that 
religion  is  false,  or  that  you  must  know  very  little  about  it." 
Here  my  friend  the  Jansenist,  following  up  my  remarks, 
said  to  him :  "  You  would  do  well,  father,  if  you  wish  to 
preserve  your  doctrine,  not  to  explain  so  precisely  as  you 
have  done  to  us,  what  you  mean  by  actual  grace.  For,  how 
could  you,  without  forfeiting  all  credit  in  the  estimation  of 
men,  openly  declare  that  nobody  sins  without  having  previ- 
ously the  knowledge  of  his  weakness,  and  of  a.  physician,  or 
the  desire  of  a  cure,  and  of  asking  it  of  God  ?  Will  it  be 
believed,  on  your  word,  that  those  who  are  immersed  in 
avarice,  impurity,  blasphemy,  duelling,  revenge,  robbery  and 
sacrilege,  have  really  a  desire  to  embrace  chastity,  humility, 
and  the  other  Christian  virtues  ?  Can  it  be  conceived  that 
those  philosophers  who  boasted  so  loudly  of  the  powers 
of  nature,  knew  its  infirmity  and  its  physician  ?  Will  you 
maintain  that  those  who  held  it  as  a  settled  maxim  that  '  it 
is  not  God  that  bestows  virtue,  and  that  no  one  ever  asked 
it  from  him,'  would  think  of  asking  it  for  themselves  ?  Who 
can  believe  that  the  Epicureans,  who  denied  a  divine  provi- 
dence, ever  felt  any  inclination  to  pray  to  God  ? — men  who 


a  salutary  change  was  effected  on  his  character.  The  Jesuit,  finding 
himself  forgotten,  paid  a  visit  to  his  former  penitent,  and  gave  him  back 
the  portrait,  which  renewed  all  his  former  passisn,  and  soon  brought 
him  again  to  the  feet  of  his  confessor ! 


108  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

said  that  '  it  would  be  an  insult  to  invoke  the  Deity  in  om 
necessities,  as  if  he  were  capable  of  wasting  a  thought  on 
beings  like  us  ?'  In  a  word,  how  can  it  be  imagined  that 
idolaters  and  Atheists,  every  time  they  are  tempted  to  the 
commission  of  sin,  in  other  words,  infinitely  often  during  their 
lives,  have  a  desire  to  pray  to  the  true  God,  of  whom  they 
are  ignorant,  that  he  would  bestow  on  them  virtues  of  which 
they  have  no  conception  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  the  worthy  monk,  in  a  resolute  tone,  "  we 
will  affirm  it :  and  sooner  than  allow  that  any  one  sins  with- 
out having  the  consciousness  that  he  is  doing  evil,  and  the 
desire  of  the  opposite  virtue,  we  will  maintain  that  the  whole 
world,  reprobates  and  infidels  included,  have  these  inspira- 
tions and  desires  in  every  case  of  temptation.  You  cannot 
show  me,  from  the  Scripture  at  least,  that  this  is  not  the 
truth." 

On  this  remark  I  struck  in,  by  exclaiming :  "  What !  fa- 
ther, must  we  have  recourse  to  the  Scripture  to  demonstrate 
a  thing  so  clear  as  this  ?  This  is  not  a  point  of  faith,  nor 
even  of  reason.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact :  we  see  it — we  know 
it — we  feel  it." 

But  the  Jansenist,  keeping  the  monk  to  his  own  terms, 
addressed  him  as  follows :  "  If  you  are  willing,  father,  to 
stand  or  fall  by  Scripture,  I  am  ready  to  meet  you  there ; 
only  you  must  promise  to  yield  to  its  authority ;  and  since  it 
is  written  that  '  God  has  not  revealed  his  judgments  to  the 
Heathen,  but  left  them  to  wander  in  their  own  ways,'  you 
must  not  say  that  God  has  enlightened  those  whom  the  Sa- 
cred Writings  assure  us  '  he  has  left  in  darkness  and  in  the 
shadow  of  death.'  Is  it  not  enough  to  show  the  erroneous- 
ness  of  your  principle,  to  find  that  St.  Paul  calls  himself  '  the 
chief  of  sinners,'  for  a  sin  which  he  committed  '  ignorantly, 
and  with  zeal  ?'  Is  it  not  enough  to  find,  from  the  Gospel, 
that  those  who  crucified  Jesus  Christ  had  need  of  the  pardon 
which  he  asked  for  them,  although  they  knew  not  the  malice 
of  their  action,  and  would  never  have  committed  it,  accord- 
ing to  St.  Paul,  if  they  had  known  it  ?  Is  jt  not  enough  that 


ACTUAL    GRACE    AND    SINS    OF   IGNORANCE.  109 

Jesus  Christ  apprizes  us  that  there  will  be  persecutors  of  the 
Church,  who,  while  making  every  effort  to  ruin  her,  will 
'  think  that  they  are  doing  God  service  ;'  teaching  us  that 
this  sin,  which  in  the  judgment  of  the  apostle,  is  the  greatest 
of  all  sins,  may  be  committed  by  persons  who,  so  far  from 
knowing  that  they  were  sinning,  would  think  that  they  sinned 
by  not  committing  it  ?  In  fine,  is  it  not  enough  that  Jesus 
Christ  himself  has  taught  us  that  there  are  two  kinds  of 
sinners,  the  one  of  whom  sin  with  '  knowledge  of  their  Mas- 
tor's  will,'  and  the  other  without  knowledge  ;  and  that  both 
of  them  will  be  'chastised,'  although,  indeed,  in  a  different 
manner  ?" 

Sorely  pressed  by  so  many  testimonies  from  Scripture,  to 
which  he  had  appealed,  the  worthy  monk  began  to  give  way  ; 
and,  leaving  the  wicked  to  sin  without  inspiration,  he  said : 
"  You  will  not  deny  that  good  men,  at  least,  never  sin  unless 

God  give  them" "  You  are  flinching,"  said  I,  interrupting 

him  ;  "  you  are  flinching  now,  my  good  father ;  you  abandon 
the  general  principle,  and  finding  that  it  will  not  hold  good 
in  regard  to  the  wicked,  you  would  compound  the  matter,  by 
making  it  apply  at  least  to  the  righteous.  But  in  this  point 
of  view  the  application  of  it  is,  I  conceive,  so  circumscribed, 
that  it  will  hardly  apply  to  anybody,  and  it  is  scarcely  worth 
while  to  dispute  the  point." 

My  friend,  however,  who  was  so  ready  on  the  whole  ques- 
tion, that  I  am  inclined  to  think  he  had  studied  it  all  that 
very  morning,  replied  :  "  This,  father,  is  the  last  entrench- 
ment to  which  those  of  jour  party  who  are  willing  to  reason 
at  all  are  sure  to  retreat ;  but  you  are  far  from  being  safe 
even  here.  The  example  of  the  saints  is  not  a  whit  more  in 
your  favor.  Who  doubts  that  they  often  fall  into  sins  of 
surprise,  without  being  conscious  of  them  ?  Do  we  not  learn 
from  the  saints  themselves  how  often  concupiscence  lays  hid- 
den snares  for  them ;  and  how  generally  it  happens,  as  St. 
Augustine  complains  of  himself  in  his  Confessions,  that,  with 
all  their  discretion,  they  '  give  to  pleasure  what  they  mean 
only  to  give  to  necessity  ?' 


110  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

"  How  usual  is  it  to  see  the  more  zealous  friends  of  truth 
betrayed  by  the  heat  of  controversy  into  sallies  of  bitter  pas- 
sion for  their  personal  interests,  while  their  consciences,  at 
the  time,  bear  them  no  other  testimony  than  that  they  are 
acting  in  this  manner  purely  for  the  interests  o£  truth,  and 
they  do  not  discover  their  mistake  till  long  afterwards ! 

"  What,  again,  shall  we  say  of  those  who,  as  we  learn  from 
examples  in  ecclesiastical  history,  eagerly  involve  themselves 
in  affairs  which  are  really  bad,  because  they  believe  them  to  be 
really  good  ;  and  yet  this  does  not  hinder  the  fathers  from  con- 
demning such  persons  as  having  sinned  on  these  occasions  ? 

"  And  were  this  not  the  case,  how  could  the  saints  have 
their  secret  faults  ?  How  could  it  be  true  that  God  alone 
knows  the  magnitude  and  the  number  of  our  offences  ;  that 
no  one  knows  whether  he  is  worthy  of  hatred  or  love ;  and 
that  the  best  of  saints,  though  unconscious  of  any  culpabil- 
ity, ought  always,  as  St.  Paul  says  of  himself,  to  remain  in 
'  fear  and  trembling  ?'* 

"  You  perceive,  then,  father,  that  this  knowledge  of  the 
evil,  and  love  of  the  opposite  virtue,  which  you  imagine  to  be 
essential  to  constitute  sin,  are  equally  disproved  by  the  exam- 
ples of  the  righteous  and  of  the  wicked.  In  the  case  of  the 
wicked,  their  passion  for  vice  sufficiently  testifies  that  they 
have  no  desire  for  virtue  ;  and  in  regard  to  the  righteous,  the 
love  which  they  bear  to  virtue  plainly  shows  that  they  are 
not  always  conscious  of  those  sins  which,  as  the  Scripture 
teaches,  they  are  daily  committing. 

"  So  true  is  it,  indeed,  that  the  righteous  often  sin  through 

*  "  The  doubtsome  faith  of  the  pope,"  as  it  was  styled  by  our  Re- 
formers, is  here  lamentably  apparent.  The  "  fear  and  trembling"  of  the 
apostle  were  those  of  anxious  care  and  diligence,  not  of  doubt  or  appre- 
hension. The  Church  of  Rome,  with  all  her  pretensions  to  he  regarded 
as  the  only  safe  and  infallible  guide  to  salvation,  keeps  her  children  in 
darkness  and  doubt  on  this  point  to  the  last  moment  of  life;  they  are 
never  permitted  to  reach  the  peaceful  assurance  of  God's  love  and  the 
humble  hope  of  eternal  life  which  the  Gospel  warrants  the  believer  to 
cherish ;  and  this,  while  it  serves  to  keep  the  superstitious  multitude  un- 
der the  sway  of  priestly  domination,  accounts  for  the  gloom  which  has 
characterize^,  in  all  ages,  the  devotion  of  the  best  and  most  intelligent 
Romanists. 


ACTUAL    GRACE   AND    SINS    OF    IGNORANCE.  Ill 

ignorance,  that  the  greatest  saints  rarely  sin  otherwise.  For 
how  can  it  be  supposed  that  souls  so  pure,  who  avoid  with 
so  much  care  and  zeal  the  least  things  that  can  be  displeasing 
to  God  as  soon  as  they  discover  them,  and  who  yet  sin  many 
times  every  day,  could  possibly  have,  every  time  before  they 
fell  into  sin,  '  the  knowledge  of  their  infirmity  on  that  occa- 
sion, and  of  their  physician,  and  the  desire  of  their  souls' 
health,  and  of  praying  to  God  for  assistance,'  and  that,  in 
spite  of  these  inspirations,  these  devoted  souls  '  nevertheless 
transgress,'  and  commit  the  sin  ? 

"  You  must  conclude  then,  father,  that  neither  sinners  nor 
yet  saints  have  always  that  knowledge,  or  those  desires  and 
inspirations  every  time  they  offend ;  that  is>  to  use  your  own 
terms,  they  have  not  always  actual  grace.  Say  no  longer, 
with  your  modern  authors,  that  it  is  impossible  for  those  to 
sin  who  do  not  know  righteousness ;  but  rather  join  with  St. 
Augustine  and  the  ancient  fathers  in  saying  that  it  is  impos- 
sible not  to  sin,  when  we  do  not  know  righteousness :  Ne- 
cesse  est  ut  peccet,  a  quo  ignoratur  justitia." 

The  good  father,  though  thus  driven  from  both  of  his  po- 
sitions, did  not  lose  courage,  but  after  ruminating  a  little, 
"  Ha  !"  he  exclaimed,  "  I  shall  settle  you  immediately."  And 
again  taking  up  Father  Bauny,  he  pointed  to  the  same  place 
he  had  before  quoted,  exclaiming:  "Look  now — see  the 
ground  on  which  he  establishes  his  opinion !  I  was  sure  he 
•would  not  be  deficient  in  good  proofs.  Read  what  he  quotes 
from  Aristotle,  and  you  will  see  that,  after  so  express  an  au- 
thority, you  must  either  burn  the  books  of  this  prince  of  philos- 
ophers or  adopt  our  opinion.  Hear,  then,  the  principles  which 
support  Father  Bauny :  Aristotle  states  first,  '  that  an  action 
cannot  be  imputed  as  blameworthy,  if  it  be  involuntary.'  " 

"  I  grant  that,"  said  my  friend. 

"This  is  the  first  time  you  have  agreed  together,"  said  I. 
"  Take  my  advice,  father,  and  proceed  no  further." 

"  That  would  be  doing  nothing,"  he  replied ;  "  we  must 
know  what  are  the  conditions  necessary  to  constitute  an  ac- 
tion voluntary." 


112  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

"lam  much  afraid,"  returned  I,  "that  you  will  get  at 
loggerheads  on  that  point." 

'•'  No  fear  of  that,"  said  he  ;  "  this  is  sure  ground — Aris- 
totle is  on  my  side.  Hear,  now,  what  Father  Bauny  says : 
'  In  order  that  an  action  be  voluntary,  it  must  proceed  from 
a  man  who  perceives,  knows,  and  comprehends  what  is  good 
and  what  is  evil  in  it.  Voluntarium  est — that  is  a  voluntary 
action,  as  we  commonly  say  with  the  philosopher'  (that  is 
Aristotle,  you  know,  said  the  monk,  squeezing  my  hand  ;) 
'  quod  Jit  a  principle  cognoscente  singula  in  guibus  est  aciio — 
which  is  done  by  a  person  knowing  the  particulars  of  the  ac- 
tion ;  so  that  when  the  will  is  led  inconsiderately,  and  with- 
out mature  reflection,  to  embrace  or  reject,  to  do  or  omit  to 
do  anything,  before  the  understanding  has  been  able  to  see 
whether  it  would  be  right  or  wrong,  such  an  action  is  neither 
good  nor  evil ;  because  previous  to  this  mental  inquisition, 
view,  and  reflection  on  the  good  or  bad  qualities  of  the  mat- 
ter in  question,  the  act  by  which  it  is  done  is  not  voluntary.' 
Are  you  satisfied  now  ?"  said  the  father. 

"  It  appears,"  returned  I,  "  that  Aristotle  agrees  with  Fa- 
ther Bauny ;  but  that  does  not  prevent  me  from  feeling  sur- 
prised at  this  statement.  What,  sir !  is  it  not  enough  to  make 
an  action  voluntary  that  the  man  knows  what  he  is  doing,  and 
does  it  just  because  he  chooses  to  do  it  ?  Must  we  suppose, 
besides  this,  that  he  '  perceives,  knows,  and  comprehends 
what  is  good  and  evil  in  the  action  ?'  Why,  on  this  supposi- 
tion there  would  be  hardly  such  a  thing  in  nature  as  volun- 
tary actions,  for  nobody  almost  thinks  about  all  this.  How 
many  oaths  in  gambling — how  many  excesses  in  debauchery 
— how  many  riotous  extravagances  in  the  carnival,  must,  on 
this  principle,  be  excluded  from  the  list  of  voluntary  actions, 
and  consequently  neither  good  nor  bad,  because  not  accompa- 
nied by  those  '  mental  reflections  on  the  good  and  evil  qual- 
ities' of  the  action  ?  But  is  it  possible,  father,  that  Aristotle 
held  such  a  sentiment  ?  I  have  always  understood  that  he 
was  a  sensible  man." 

"  I  shall  soon  convince  you  of  that,"  said  the  Janseniit ; 


ACTUAL  GRACE  AND  SINS  OF  IGNORANCE.      113 

and  requesting  a  sight  of  Aristotle's  Ethics,  he  opened  it  at 
the  beginning  of  the  third  book,  from  which  Father  Bauny 
had  taken  the  passage  quoted,  and  said  to  the  monk :  "  I  ex- 
cuse you,  my  dear  sir,  for  having  believed,  on  the  word  of 
Father  Bauny,  that  Aristotle  held  such  a  sentiment ;  but  you 
vfould  have  changed  your  mind  had  you  read  him  for  your- 
self. It  is  true  that  he  teaches,  that  '  in  order  to  make  an 
action  voluntary,  we  must  know  the  particulars  of  that  ac- 
tion'— singula  in  quibus  est  actio.  But  what  else  does  he 
mean  by  that,  than  the  particular  circumstances  of  the  ac- 
tion ?  The  examples  which  he  adduces  clearly  show  this  to 
be  his  meaning,  for  they  are  exclusively  confined  to  cases  in 
which  the  persons  were  ignorant  of  some  of  the  circumstan- 
ces ;  such  as  that  of  'a  person  who,  wishing  to  exhibit  a  ma- 
chine, discharges  a  dart  which  wounds  a  bystander  ;  and  that 
of  Merope,  who  killed  her  own  son  instead  of  her  enemy,' 
and  such  like. 

"  Thus  you  see  what  is  the  kind  of  ignorance  that  renders 
actions  involuntary ;  namely,  that  of  the  particular  circum- 
stances, which  is  termed  by  divines,  as  you  must  know,  igno- 
rance of  the  fact.  But  with  respect  to  ignorance  of  the  right 
— ignorance  of  the  good  or  evil  in  an  action — which  is  the 
only  point  in  question,  let  us  see  if  Aristotle  agrees  with  Fa- 
ther Bauny.  Here  are  the  words  of  the  philosopher :  '  All 
wicked  men  are  ignorant  of  what  they  ought  to  do,  and  what 
they  ought  to  avoid  ;  and  it  is  this  very  ignorance  which 
makes  them  wicked  and  vicious.  Accordingly,  a  man  cannot 
be  said  to  act  involuntarily  merely  because  he  is  ignorant  of 
what  it  is  proper  for  him  to  do  in  order  to  fulfil  his  duty. 
This  ignorance  in  the  choice  of  good  and  evil  does  not  make 
the  action  involuntary ;  it  only  makes  it  vicious.  The  same 
thing  may  be  affirmed  of  the  man  who  is  ignorant  generally 
of  the  rules  of  his  duty ;  such  ignorance  is  worthy  of  blame, 
not  of  excuse.  And  consequently,  the  ignorance  which  ren- 
ders actions  involuntary  and  excusable  is  simply  that  which 
relates  to  the  fact  and  its  particular  circumstances.  In  this 


114  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

case  the  person  is  excused  and  forgiven,  being  considered  as 
having  acted  contrary  to  his  inclination.' 

"  After  this,  father,  will  you  maintain  that  Aristotle  is  of 
your  opinion  ?  And  who  can  help  being  astonished  to  find 
that  a  Pagan  philosopher  had  more  enlightened  views  than 
your  doctors,  in  a  matter  so  deeply  affecting  morals,  and  the 
direction  of  conscience,  too,  as  the  knowledge  of  those  con- 
ditions which  render  actions  voluntary  or  involuntary,  and 
which,  accordingly,  charge  or  discharge  them  as  sinful  ? 
Look  for  no  more  support,  then,  father,  from  the  prince  of 
philosophers,  and  no  longer  oppose  yourselves  to  the  prince 
of  theologians,*  who  has  thus  decided  the  point  in  the  first 
book  of  his  Retractations,  chapter  xv. :  '  Those  who  sin 
through  ignorance,  though  they  sin  without  meaning  to  sin, 
commit  the  deed  only  because  they  will  commit  it.  And, 
therefore,  even  this  sin  of  ignorance  cannot  be  committed 
except  by  the  will  of  him  who  commits  it,  though  by  a  will 
which  incites  him  to  the  action  merely,  and  not  to  the  sin ; 
and  yet  the  action  itself  is  nevertheless  sinful,  for  it  is  enough 
to  constitute  it  such  that  he  has  done  what  he  was  bound 
not  to  do.' " 

The  Jesuit  seemed  to  be  confounded  more  with  the  pas- 
sage from  Aristotle,  I  thought,  than  that  from  St  Augustine  ; 
but  while  he  was  thinking  on  what  he  could  reply,  a  messen- 
ger came  to  inform  him  that  Madame  la  Mareschale  of , 

and  Madame  the  Marchioness  of ,  requested  his  attend- 
ance. So  taking  a  hasty  leave  of  us,  he  said  :  "  I  shall  speak 
about  it  to  our  fathers.  They  will  find  an  answer  to  it,  I 
warrant  you ;  we  have  got  some  long  heads  among  us." 

We  understood  him  perfectly  well ;  and  on  our  being  left 
alone,  I  expressed  to  my  friend  my  astonishment  at  the  sub- 
version which  this  doctrine  threatened  to  the  whole  system 
of  morals.  To  this  he  replied  that  he  was  quite  astonish- 
ed at  my  astonishment.  "Are  you  not  yet  aware,"  he 
said,  "  that  they  have  gone  to  far  greater  excess  in  morals 

*  Augustine. 


ACTUAL   GRACE   AND    SINS    OF    IGNORANCE.  115 

than  in  any  other  matter?"  He  gave  me  some  strange 
illustrations  of  this,  promising  me  more  at  some  future 
time.  The  information  which  I  may  receive  on  this  point, 
will,  I  hope,  furnish  the  topic  of  my  next  communication. 
— I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  V. 

DESIGN   OF   THE   JESUITS   IN  ESTABLISHING   A  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  MOR- 

ALS TWO  SORTS   OF     CASUISTS    AMONG    THEM,  A  GREAT    MANT 

LAX,  AND   SOME   SEVERE   ONES — REASON   OF   THIS   DIFFERENCE 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  DOCTRINE  OF  PROBABILITY — A  MULTITUDE 
OF  MODERN  AND  UNKNOWN  AUTHORS  SUBSTITUTED  IN  THE  PLACE 
OF  THE  HOLY  FATHERS. 

PARIS,  March  20,  1656. 

SIR, — According  to  my  promise,  I  now  send  you  the  first 
outlines  of  the  morals  taught  by  those  good  fathers  the  Jes- 
uits— "  those  men  distinguished  for  learning  and  sagacity, 
who  are  all  under  the  guidance  of  divine  wisdom — a  surer 
guide  than  all  philosophy."  You  imagine,  perhaps,  that  I 
am  in  jest,  but  I  am  perfectly  serious ;  or  rather,  they  are  so 
when  they  speak  thus  of  themselves  in  their  book  entitled 
"  The  Image  of  the  First  Century."  *  I  am  only  copying 
their  own  words,  and  may  now  give  you  the  rest  of  the  eu- 
logy :  "  They  are  a  society  of  men,  or  rather  let  us  call  them 
angels,  predicted  by  Isaiah  in  these  words, '  Go,  ye  swift  and 
ready  angels.'  "f  The  prediction  is  as  clear  as  day,  is  it.  not  ? 
"  They  have  the  spirit  of  eagles ;  they  are  a  flock  of  phoe- 
nixes (a  late  author  having  demonstrated  that  there  are  a 
great  many  of  these  birds) ;  they  have  changed  the  face  of 
Christendom!"  Of  course,  we  must  believe  all  this,  since 

*  Imago  Prim*  Seculi. — The  work  to  which  Pascal  here  refers  was 
printed  by  the  Jesuits  in  Flanders  in  the  year  1640.  under  the  title  of 
"  L'lmage  du  Premier  Sieele  de  la  Societe  de  Jesus  "  being  a  history 
of  the  Society  of  the  Jesuits  from  the  period  of  its  establishment  in  1540 
— a  century  before  the  publication.  The  work  itself  is  very  rare,  and 
would  probably  have  fallen  into  oblivion,  had  not  the  substance  of  it 
been  embodied  in  a  little  treatise,  itself  also  scarce  entitled  ••  La  Jlorale 
Pratique  des  Jesuites."  The  small  specimen  which  Pascal  has  given 
conveys  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  mingled  blasjiiemy  and  absurdity 
of  this  Jesuitical  production. 

f  Isa.  xviii.  2. 


POLICY    OF    THE    JESUITS.  11 7 

they  have  said  it ;  and  in  one  sense  you  will  find  the  account 
amply  verified  by  the  sequel  of  this  communication,  in  which 
I  propose  to  treat  of  their  maxims. 

Determined  to  obtain  the  best  possible  information,  I  did 
not  trust  to  the  representations  of  our  friend  the  Jansenist, 
but  sought  an  interview  with  some  of  themselves.  I  found, 
however,  that  he  told  me  nothing  but  the  bare  truth,  and  I 
am  persuaded  he  is  an  honest  man.  Of  this  you  may  judge 
from  the  following  account  of  these  conferences. 

In  the  conversation  I  had  with  the  Jansenist,  he  told  me 
so  many  strange  things  about  these  fathers,  that  I  could  with 
difficulty  believe  them,  till  he  pointed  them  out  to  me  in 
their  writings ;  after  which  he  left  me  nothing  more  to  say  in 
their  defence,  than  that  these  might  be  the  sentiments  of 
some  individuals  onlv,  which  it  was  not  fair  to  impute  to  the 
whole  fraternity.*  And,  indeed,  I  assured  him  that  I  knew 
some  of  them  who  were  as  severe  as  those  whom  he  quoted 
to  me  were  lax.  This  led  him  to  explain  to  me  the  spirit  of 
the  Society,  which  is  not  known  to  every  one  ;  and  you  will 
perhaps  have  no  objections  to  learn  something  about  it. 

'•  You  imagine,"  he  began,  "  that  it  would  tell  considerably 
in  their  favor  to  show  that  some  of  their  fathers  are  as  friendly 
to  Evangelical  maxims  as  others  are  opposed  to  them ;  and 
you  would  conclude  from  that  circumstance,  that  these  loose 
opinions  do  not  belong  to  the  whole  Society.  That  I  grant 
you ;  for  had  such  been  the  case,  they  would  not  have  suf- 
fered persons  among  them  holding  sentiments  so  diametri- 
cally opposed  to  licentiousness.  But  as  it  is  equally  true 
that  there  are  among  them  those  who  hold  these  licentious 
doctrines,  you  are  bound  also  to  conclude  that  the  Spirit  of 
the  Society  is  not  that  of  Christian  severity ;  for  had  such  been 
the  case,  they  would  not  have  suffered  persons  among  them 
holding  sentiments  so  diametrically  opposed  to  that  severity." 

"  And  what,  then,"  I  asked,  "  can  be  the  design  of  the 


*  The  reader  is  requested  to  notice  how  completely  the  charge  brought 
against  the  Provincial  Letters  by  Voltaire  and  others  is  here  anticipated 
and  refuted.  (See  Hist.  Introduction.) 


118  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

whole  as  a  body  ?  Perhaps  they  have  no  fixed  principle, 
and  every  one  is  left  to  speak  out  at  random  whatever  he 
thinks."  '  » 

"  That  cannot  be,"  returned  my  friend  ;  "  such  an  im- 
mense body  could  not  subsist  in  such  a  hap-hazard  sort  of 
way,  or  without  a  soul  to  govern  and  regulate  its  move- 
ments ;  besides,  it  is  one  of  their  express  regulations,  that 
none  shall  print  a  page  without  the  approval  of  their  su- 
periors." 

"  But,"  said  I,  "  how  can  these  same  superiors  give  their 
consent  to  maxims  so  contradictory  ?" 

"  That  is  what  you  have  yet  to  learn,"  he  replied.  "  Know, 
then,  that  their  object  is  not  the  corruption  of  manners — 
that  is  not  their  design.  But  as  little  is  it  their  sole  aim  to 
reform  them — that  would  be  bad  policy.  Their  idea  is 
briefly  this :  They  have  such  a  good  opinion  of  themselves 
as  to  believe  that  it  is  useful,  and  in  some  sort  essentially  ne- 
cessary to  the  good  of  religion,  that  their  influence  should 
extend  everywhere,  and  that  they  should  govern  all  con- 
sciences. And  the  Evangelical  or  severe  maxims  being  best 
fitted  for  managing  some  sorts  of  people,  they  avail  them- 
selves of  these  when  they  find  them  favorable  to  their  pur- 
pose. But  as  these  maxims  do  not  suit  the  views  of  the 
great  bulk  of  people,  they  wave  them  in  the  case  of  such 
persons,  in  order  to  keep  on  good  terms  with  all  the  world. 
Accordingly,  having  to  deal  with  persons  of  all  classes  and 
of  all  different  nations,  they  find  it  necessary  to  have  casuists 
cut  out  to  match  this  diversity. 

"  On  this  principle,  you  will  easily  see  that  if  they  had 
none  but  the  looser  sort  of  casuists,  they  would  defeat  their 
main  design,  which  is  to  embrace  all ;  for  those  that  are 
truly  pious  are  fond  of  a  stricter  discipline.  But  as  there 
are  not  many  of  that  stamp,  they  do  not  require  many  severe 
directors  to  guide  them.  They  have  a  few  for  the  select 
few ;  while  whole  multitudes  of  lax  casuists  are  provided  for 
the  multitudes  that  prefer  laxity.* 

*  "  It  must  be  observed  that  most  of  those  Jesuits  who  were  so  seven 


POLICY    OF    THE   JESUITS.  119 

"  It  is  in  virtue  of  this  '  obliging  and  accommodating,  con- 
duct, as  Father  Petau*  calls  it,  that  they  may  be  said  te 
stretch  out  a  helping  hand  to  all  mankind.  Should  any  per- 
son present  himself  before  them,  for  example,  fully  resolved 
to  make  restitution  of  some  ill-gotten  gains,  do  not  suppose 
that  they  would  dissuade  him  from  it.  By  no  means ;  on 
the  contrary,  they  will  applaud  and  confirm  him  in  such  a 
holy  resolution.  But  suppose  another  should  come  who 
wishes  to  be  absolved  without  restitution,  and  it  will  be  a 
irticularly  hard  case  indeed,  if  they  cannot  furnish  him 
ith  means  of  evading  the  duty,  of  one  kind  or  another,  the 
lawfulness  of  which  they  will  be  ready  to  guarantee. 

"By  this  policy  they  keep  all  their  friends,  and  defend 
themselves  against  all  their  foes ;  for,  when  charged  with 
extreme  laxity,  they  have  nothing  more  to  do  than  produce 
their  austere  directors,  with  some  books  which  they  have 
written  on  the  severity  of  the  Christian  code  of  morals ;  and 
simple  people,  or  those  who  never  look  below  the  surface  of 
things,  are  quite  satisfied  with  these  proofs  of  the  falsity  of 
the  accusation. 

"  Thus  are  they  prepared  for  all  sorts  of  persons,  and  so 
ready  are  they  to  suit  the  supply  to  the  demand,  that  when 
they  happen  to  be  in  any  part  of  the  world  where  the  doc- 
trine of  a  crucified  God  is  accounted  foolishness,  they  suppress 
the  offence  of  the  cross,  and  preach  only  a  glorious  and  not 
a  suffering  Jesus  Christ.  This  plan  they  followed  in  the 
Indies  and  in  China,  where  they  permitted  Christians  to  prac- 
tise idolatry  itself,  with  the  aid  of  the  following  ingenious 
contrivance  : — they  made  their  converts  conceal  under  their 
clothes  an  image  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  which  they  taught  them 

in  their  writings,  were  less  so  towards  their  penitents.  It  has  been  said 
of  Bourdaloue  himself  that  if  he  required  too  much  in  the  pulpit,  he 
abated  it  in  the  confessional  chair:  a  new  stroke  of  policy  well  under- 
stood on  the  part  of  the  Jesuits,  inasmuch  as  speculative  severity  suits 
persons  of  rigid  morals,  and  practical  condescension  attracts  the  multi- 
tude." (D'Alembert,  Account  of  Best,  of  Jesuits,  p.  44.) 

*  Petau  was  one  of  the  obscure  writers  who  were  employed  by  the 
Jesuits  to  publish  defamatory  libels  njuiinst  M.  Arnauid  and  the  bishops 
who  approved  of  his  book  on  Frequent  Communion.  (Coudrette.  ii. 
49G  ) 


120  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

to  transfer  mentally  those  adorations  which  they  rendered 
ostensibly  to  the  idol  Cachinchoam  and  Keum-fucum.  This 
charge  is  brought  against  them  by  Gravina,  a  Dominican, 
and  is  fully  established  by  the  Spanish  memorial  presented 
to  Philip  IV.,  king  of  Spain,  by  the  Cordeliers  of  the  Philip- 
pine Islands,  quoted  by  Thomas  Hurtado,  in  his  '  Martyrdom 
of  tL.3  Faith,'  page  427.  To  such  a  length  did  this  practice 
go,  that  the  Congregation  De  Propaganda,  were  obliged  ex- 
pressly to  forbid  the  Jesuits,  on  pain  of  excommunication,  to 
permit  the  worship  of  idols  on  any  pretext  whatever,  or  to 
conceal  the  mystery  of  the  cross  from  their  catechumens ; 
strictly  enjoining  them  to  admit  none  to  baptism  who  were 
not  thus  instructed,  and  ordering  them  to  expose  the  image 
of  the  crucifix  in  their  churches : — all  which  is  amply  de- 
tailed in  the  decree  of  that  Congregation,  dated  the  9th  of 
July,  1646,  and  signed  by  Cardinal  Capponi.* 

*  The  policy  to  which  Pascal  refers  was  introduced  by  Matthew 
Ricci,  an  Italian  Jesuit,  who  succeeded  the  famous  Francis  Xavier  in 
attempting  to  convert  the  Chinese.  Ricci  declared  that,  after  consulting 
the  writings  of  the  Chinese  literati,  he  was  persuaded  that  the  Xamti 
and  Cachinchoam  of  the  mandarins  were  merely  other  names  for  the 
King  of  Heaven,  and  that  the  idolatries  of  the  natives  were  harmless 
civil  ceremonies.  He  therefore  allowed  his  converts  to  practise  them,  on 
the  condition  mentioned  in  the  text.  In  1631,  some  new  paladins  of  the 
orders  of  Dominic  and  Francis,  who  came  from  the  Philippine  Islands 
to  share  in  the  spiritual  conquest  of  that  vast  empire,  were  grievously 
scandalized  at  the  monstrous  compromise  between  Christianity  and 
idolatry  tolerated  by  the  followers  of  Loyola  and  carried  their  com- 
plaints to  Rome.  The  result  is  illustrative  of  the  papal  policy.  Pope 
Innocent  X.  condemned  the  Jesuitical  policy ;  Pope  Alexander  VII.  in 
1G55  (when  this  letter  was  written)  sanctioned  it,  and  in  16f>9,  Pope 
Clement  IX.  ordained  that  the  decrees  of  bothof  his  predecessors  should 
continue  in  full  force.  The  Jesuits,  availing  themselves  of  this  sus- 
pense, paid  no  regard  either  to  the  popes  or  their  rival  orders,  the 
Dominicans  and  Franciscans,  who.  in  the  persecutions  which  ensued, 
always  came  off  with  the  worst.  (Coudrette.  iv.  231 ;  Hist,  of  D.  Ign. 
Loyola,  pp.  97-11-2.) 

The  prescription  given  to  the  Jesuits  by  the  cardinals  to  expose  the 
image  of  the  crucifix  in  their  churches,  appears  to  us  a  sort  of  homoeo- 
pathic cure,  very  little  better  than  the  disease.  Bossuet,  and  others 
who  have  tried  to  soften  down  the  doctrines  of  Rome,  would  represent 
the  worship  ostensibly  paid  to  the  crucifix  as  really  paid  to  Christ,  who 
is  represented  by  it.  But  even  this  does  not  accord  with  the  determina- 
tion of  the  Council  of  Trent,  which  declared  of  images  Eisque  renera- 
tiontm  impertiendam  ;  or  with  Bellarminc  who  devotes  a  chapter  ex- 
pressly to  prove  that  true  and  proper  worship  is  to  be  given  to  image*. 
(Stillingfleet  on  Popery,  by  Dr.  Cunningham,  j  77.) 


POLICY    OF    TrfE    JESUITS.  121 

"  Such  is  the  manner  in  which  they  have  spread  themselves 
over  the  whole  earth,  aided  by  tlie  doctrine  of  probable  opin- 
ions, which  is  at  once  the  source  and  the  basis  of  all  this 
licentiousness.  You  must  get  some  of  themselves  to  explain 
this  doctrine  to  you.  They  make  no  secret  of  it,  any  more 
than  of  what  you  have  already  learned  ;  with  this  difference 
only,  that  they  conceal  their  carnal  and  worldly  policy  under 
the  garb  of  divine  and  Christian  prudence ;  as  if  the  faith, 
and  tradition  its  ally,  were  not  always  one  and  the  same  at 
all  times  and  in  all  places  ;  as  if  it  were  the  part  of  the  rule 
to  bend  in  conformity  to  the  subject  which  it  was  meant  to 
regulate  ;  and  as  if  souls,  to  be  purified  from  their  pollutions, 
had  only  to  corrupt  the  law  of  the  Lord,  in  place  of  '  the 
law  of  the  Lord,  which  is  clean  and  pure,  converting  the  soul 
which  lieth  in  sin,'  and  bringing  it  into  conformity  with  its 
salutary  lessons ! 

"  Go  and  see  some  of  these  worthy  fathers,  I  beseech  you, 
and  I  am  confident  that  you  will  soon  discover,  in  the  laxity 
of  their  moral  system,  the  explanation  of  their  doctrine  about 
grace.  You  will  then  see  the  Chiistian  virtues  exhibited  in 
such  a  strange  aspect,  so  completely  stripped  of  the  charity 
which  is  the  life  and  soul  of  them — you  will  see  so  many 
crimes  palliated  and  irregularities  tolerated,  that  you  will  no 
longer  be  surprised  at  their  maintaining  that  '  all  men  have 
always  enough  of  grace'  to  lead  a  pious  life,  in  the  sense  in 
which  they  understand  piety.  Their  morality  being  entirely 
Pagan,  nature  is  quite  competent  to  its  observance.  When 
we  maintain  the  necessity  of  efficacious  grace,  we  assign  it 
another  sort  of  virtue  for  its  object.  Its  office  is  not  to  cure 
one  vice  by  means  of  another  ;  it  is  not  merely  to  induce  men 
to  practise  the  external  duties  of  religion :  it  aims  at  a  virtue 
higher  than  that  propounded  by  Pharisees,  or  the  greatest 
sages  of  Heathenism.  The  law  and  reason  are  '  sufficient 
graces'  for  these  purposes.  But  to  disenthral  the  soul  from 
the  love  of  the  world — to  tear  it  from  what  it  holds  most 
dear — to  make  it  die  to  itself — to  lift  it  up  and  bind  it  wholly, 
only,  and  forever,  to  God — can  be  the  work  of  none  but  an 
6 


122  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

all-powerful  hand.  And  it  would  be  as  absurd  to  affirm  that 
we  have  the  full  power  of  achieving  such  objects,  as  it  would 
be  to  allege  that  those  virtues,  devoid  of  the  love  of  God, 
which  these  fathers  confound  Avith  the  virtues  of  Christian- 
ity, are  beyond  our  power." 

Such  was  the  strain  of  ray  friend's  discourse,  which  was 
delivered  with  much  feeling ;  for  he  takes  these  sad  disorders 
very  much  to  heart.  For  my  own  part,  I  began  to  entertain 
a  high  admiration  of  these  fathers,  simply  on  account  of  the 
ingenuity  of  their  policy ;  and  following  his  advice,  I  waited 
on  a  good  casuist  of  the  Society,  one  of  my  old  acquaint- 
ances, with  whom  I  now  resolved  purposely  to  renew  my 
former  intimacy.  Having  my  instructions  how  to  manage 
them,  I  had  no  great  difficulty  in  getting  him  afloat.  Retain- 
ing his  old  attachment,  he  received  me  immediately  with  a 
profusion  of  kindness ;  and  after  talking  over  some  indifferent 
matters,  I  took  occasion  from  the  present  season,*  to  learn 
something  from  him  about  fasting,  and  thus  slip  insensibly 
into  the  main  subject.  I  told  him,  therefore,  that  I  had  dif- 
ficulty in  supporting  the  fast.  He  exhorted  me  to  do  violence 
to  my  inclinations ;  but  as  I  continued  to  murmur,  he  took 
pity  on  me,  and  began  to  search  out  some  ground  for  a  dis- 
pensation. In  fact  he  suggested  a  number  of  excuses  for 
me,  none  of  which  happened  to  suit  my  case,  till  at  length 
he  bethought  himself  of  asking  me,  whether  I  did  not  find 
it  difficult  to  sleep  without  taking  supper  ?  "  Yes,  my  good 
father,"  said  I ;  "  and  for  that  reason  I  am  obliged  often  to 
take  a  refreshment  at  mid-day,  and  supper  at  night."f 

"I  am  extremely  happy,"  he  replied,  "to  have  found  out 
a  way  of  relieving  you  without  sin  :  go  in  peace — you  are 
under  no  obligation  to  fast.  However,  I  would  not  have  you 
depend  on  my  word  :  step  this  way  to  the  library." 

*  Lent. 

•f  '•'  According  to  the  rules  of  the  Roman  Catholic  fast,  one  meal  alone 
is  allowed  on  a  fast-day.  Many,  however,  fall  off  before  the  end  of 
Lent,  and  take  to  their  breakfast  and  suppers,  under  the  sanction  of 
some  good-natured  doctor,  who  declares  fasting  injurious  to  their  health." 
(Blanoo  White,  Letters  from  Spain,  p.  272.) 


POLICY    OF   THE    JESUITS.  123 

On  going  thither  with  him  he  took  up  a  book,  exclaiming, 
with  great  rapture,  "  Here  is  the  authority  for  you  :  and,  by 
my  conscience,  such  an  authority  !  It  is  ESCOBAR  !"* 

"Who  is  Escobar?"  I  inquired. 

"  What !  not  know  Escobar  ?"  cried  the  monk ;  "  the  mem- 
ber of  our  Society  who  compiled  this  Moral  Theology  from 
twenty-four  of  our  fathers,  and  on  this  founds  an  analogy,  in 
his  preface,  between  his  book  and  '  that  in  the  Apocalypse 
which  was  sealed  with  seven  seals,'  and  states  that  '  Jesus 
presents  it  thus  sealed  to  the  four  living  creatures,  Suarez, 
Vasquez,  Molina,  and  Valencia,f  in  presence  of  the  four-and- 
twenty  Jesuits  who  represent  the  four-and-twenty  elders  ?'  " 

He  read  me,  in  fact,  the  whole  of  that  allegory,  which  he 
pronounced  to  be  admirably  appropriate,  and  which  conveyed 
to  my  mind  a  sublime  idea  of  the  excellence  of  the  work. 
At  length,  having  sought  out  the  passage  On  fasting,  "  0 
here  it  is  !"  he  said  ;  "treatise  1,  example  13,  no.  67  :  'If  a 

*  Father  Antoine  Escobar  of  Mendoza  was  a  Jesuit  of  Spain,  and  born 
at  Valladolidin  158!).  where  he  died  in  1669.  His  principal  work  is  his 
"  Exposition  of  Uncontroverted  Opinions  in  Moral  Theology,"  in  six  vol- 
umes. \t  abounds  with  the  most  licentious  doctrines,  and  being  a  compi- 
lation from  numerous  Jesuitical  writers,  afforded  a  rich  field  for  the  satire 
of  Pascal.  The  characteristic  absurdity  of  this  author  is,  that  his  ques- 
tions uniformly  exhibit  two  faces— an  affirmative  and  a  negative  ;— so  that 
escobarderie  became  a  synonym  in  Prance  for  duplicity.  (Biographic 
Pittoresque  des  Jesuites,  par  M.  C.  de  Plancy,  Paris,  1826,  p.  38.)  Ni- 
cole tells  us  that  he  had  in  his  possession  a  portrait  of  the  casuist  which 
gave  him  a  "  resolute  and  decisive  cast  of  countenance'' — not  exactly 
what  might  have  been  expected  from  his  double-faced  questions.  His 
friends  describe  Escobar  as  a  good  man,  a  laborious  student,  and  very 
devout  in  his  way.  It  is  said  that,  when  he  heard  that  his  name  and 
writings  were  so  frequently  noticed  in  the  Provincial  Letters,  he  was 
quite  overjoyed  to  think  that  his  fame  would  extend  as  far  as  the  little 
letters  had  done.  Boileau  has  celebrated  him  in  the  following  cou- 
plet:- 

Si  Bourdaloue  un  peu  severe, 

Nous  dit,  craignez  la  voluptc  : 

Escobar,  lui  dit-on,  mon  pore, 

Nour  la  permet  pour  la  sante. 

"  If  Bourdaloue,  a  little  too  severe, 
Cries,  Fly  from  pleasure's  fatal  fascination 
Dear  Father,  cries  another,  Escoba; 
Permits  it  as  a  healthy  relaxation." 

t  Four  celebrated  caauists. 


124  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

man  cannot  sleep  without  taking-  supper,  is  he  bound  to  fast  ? 
Answer  :  By  no  means  /'  Will  that  not  satisfy  you  ?" 

"  Not  exactly,"  replied  I ;  "  for  I  might  sustain  the  fast 
by  taking  my  refreshment  in  the  morning,  and  supping  at 
night." 

"  Listen,  then,  to  what  follows ;  they  have  provided  for 
all  that :  '  And  what  is  to  be  said,  if  the  person  might  make 
a  shift  with  a  refreshment  in  the  morning  and  supping  at 
night  ?' " 

"  That's  my  case  exactly." 

" '  Answer :  Still  he  is  not  obliged  to  fast ;  because  no 
person  is  obliged  to  change  the  order  of  his  meals.'  " 

"  A  most  excellent  reason  !"  I  exclaimed. 

"  But  tell  me,  pray,"  continued  the  monk,  "  do  you  take 
much  wine  ?" 

"  No,  my  dear  father,"  I  answered  ;  "  I  cannot  endure  it." 

"  I  merely  put  the  question,"  returned  he,  "  to  apprize 
you  that  you  might,  without  breaking  the  fast,  take  a  glass 
or  so  in  the  morning,  or  whenever  you  felt  inclined  for  a 
drop  ;  and  that  is  always  something  in  the  way  of  support- 
ing nature.  Hese  is  the  decision  at  the  same  place,  no.  57  : 
'  May  one,  without  breaking  the  fast,  drink  wine  at  any  hour 
he  pleases,  and  even  in  a  large  quantity  ?  Yes,  he  may  : 
and  a  dram  of  hippocrass  too.'*  I  had  no  recollection  of 
the  hippocrass,"  said  the  monk  ;  "  I  must  take  a  note  of  that 
in  my  memorandum-book." 

"  He  must  be  a  nice  man,  this  Escobar,"  observed  I. 

"Oh  !  everybody  likes  him,"  rejoined  the  father;  "he  has 
such  delightful  questions  !  Only  observe  this  one  in  the 
same  place,  no.  38 :  '  If  a  man  doubt  whether  he  is  twenty- 
one  years  old,  is  he  obliged  to  fast  ?f  No.  But  suppose  I 
were  to  be  twenty-one  to-night  an  hour  after  midnight,  and 
to-morrow  were  the  fast,  would  I  be  obliged  to  fast  to-mor- 

*  Hippocrass — a  medicated  wine. 

j"  All  -ersons  above  the  age  of  one-and-tvventy  are  bound  to  observe 
the  rules"  of  the  Roman  Catholic  fast  during  Lent.  The  obligation  of 
fasting  begins  at  midnight,  just  when  the  leading  clock  of  every  town 
•trikes  twelve.  (Letters  from  Spain,  p.  270.) 


POLICY    OF    THE    JESUITS.  125 

row?  No;  for  you  were  at  liberty  to  eat  as  much  as  you 
pleased  for  an  hour  after  midnight,  not  being  till  then  fully 
twenty-one  ;  and  therefore  having  a  right  to  break  the  fast- 
day,  you  are  not  obliged  to  keep  it.'  " 

"  Well,  that  is  vastly  entertaining  !"  cried  I. 

"  Oh,"  rejoined  the  father,  "  it  is  impossible  to  tear  one's 
self  away  from  the  book :  I  spend  whole  days  and  nights  in 
reading  it ;  in  fact,  I  do  nothing  else." 

The  worthy  monk,  perceiving  that  I  was  interested,  was 
quite  delighted,  and  went  on  with  his  quotations.  "  Now," 
said  he,  "  for  a  taste  o,'  Filiutius,  one  of  the  four-and-twenty 
Jesuits :  '  Is  a  man  who  has  exhausted  himself  any  way — 
by  profligacy,  for  example* — obliged  to  fast  ?  By  no  means. 
But  if  he  has  exhausted  himself  expressly  to  procure  a  dis- 
pensation from  fasting,  will  he  be  held  obliged  ?  He  will  not, 
even  though  he  should  have  had  that  design.'  There  now ! 
would  you  have  believed  that  ?" 

"  Indeed,  good  father,  I  do  not  believe  it  yet,"  said  I. 
"  What !  is  it  no  sin  for  a  man  not  to  fast  when  he  has  it  in 
his  power  ?  And  is  it  allowable  to  court  occasions  of  com- 
mitting sin,-  or  rather,  are  we  not  bound  to  shun  them  ? 
That  would  be  easy  enough,  surely." 

"  Not  always  so,"  he  replied  ;  "  that  is  just  as  it  may 
happen." 

"  Happen,  how  ?"  cried  I. 

"  Oho  !"  rejoined  the  monk,  "  so  you  think  that  if  a  person 
experience  some  inconvenience  in  avoiding  the  occasions  of 
sin,  he  is  still  bound  to  do  so  ?  Not  so  thinks  Father  Bauny. 
'  Absolution,'  says  he,  '  is  not  to  be  refused  to  such  as  con- 
tinue in  the  proximate  occasions  of  sin,f  if  they  are  so  situ- 
ated that  they  cannot  give  them  up  without  becoming  the 


*  Ad  insequendam  amicam.  (Tom.  ii.  tr.  27.  part  2,  c.  6.  n.  143.)  The 
accuracy  with  which  the  references  are  made  to  the  writings  of  these 
casuists  shows  anything  hut  a  design  to  garble  or  misrepresent  them. 

f  Tn  the  technical  language  of  theology,  an  "  occasion  of  sin"  is  any 
situation  or  course  of  conduct  whic'i  has  a  tendency  to  induce  the  com- 
mission of  sin.  '-Proximate  occasions"  are  those  which  have  a  direct 
ami  immediate  tendency  of  this  kind. 


126  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

common  talk  of  the  world,  or  subjecting  themselves  to  per- 
sonal inconvenience.'  " 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  it,  father,"  I  remarked  ;  "  and  now 
that  we  are  not  obliged  to  avoid  the  occasions  of  sin,  noth- 
ing more  remains  but  to  say  that  we  may  deliberately  court 
them." 

"  Even  that  is  occasionally  permitted,"  added  he ;  "  the 
celebrated  casuist  Basil  Ponce  has  said  so,  and  Father  Bauny 
quotes  his  sentiment  with  approbation,  in  his  Treatise  on 
Penance,  as  follows :  '  We  may  seek  an  occasion  of  sin  di- 
rectly and  designedly — primo  et  per  se — when  our  own  or 
our  neighbor's  spiritual  or  temporal  advantage  induces  us 
to  do  so.'  " 

"  Truly,"  said  I,  "  it  appears  to  be  all  a  dream  to  me, 
when  I  hear  grave  divines  talking  in  this  manner !  Come 
now,  my  dear  father,  tell  me  conscientiously,  do  you  hold 
such  a  sentiment  as  that  ?" 

"  No,  indeed,"  said  he,  "I  do  not." 

"  You  are  speaking,  then,  against  your  conscience,"  con- 
tinued I. 

"  Not  at  all,"  he  replied  ;  "  I  was  speaking  on  that  point 
not  according  to  my  own  conscience,  but  according  to  that 
of  Ponce  and  Father  Bauny,  and  them  you  may  follow  with 
the  utmost  safety,  for  I  assure  you  that  they  are  able  men." 

"  What,  father  !  because  they  have  put  down  these  three 
lines  in  their  books,  will  it  therefore  become  allowable  to 
court  the  occasions  of  sin  ?  I  always  thought  that  we  were 
boutid  to  take  the  Scripture  and  the  tradition  of  the  Church 
as  our  only  rule,  and  not  your  casuists." 

"  Goodness  !"  ci'ied  the  monk,  "  I  declare  you  put  me 
in  mind  of  these  Jansenists.  Think  you  that  Father  Bauny 
and  Basil  Ponce  are  not  able  to  render  their  opinion  prob- 
able r 

"  Probable  won't  do  for  me,"  said  I ;  "I  must  have 
certainty." 

"  I  can  easily  see,"  replied  the  good  father,  "  that  you 
know  nothing  about  our  doctrine  of  probable  opinions.  If 


DOCTRINE    OF   PROBABILITY.  127 

you  did,  you  would  speak  in  another  strain.  All !  my  dear 
sir,  I  must  really  give  you  some  instructions  on  this  point ; 
•without  knowing  this,  positively  you  can  understand  nothing 
at  all.  It  is  the  foundation — the  very  A,  B,  c,  of  our  whole 
moral  philosophy." 

Glad  to  see  him  come  to  the  point  to  which  I  had  been 
drawing  him  on,  I  expressed  my  satisfaction,  and  requested 
him  to  explain  what  was  meant  by  a  probable  opinion  ?* 

"  That,"  he  replied,  "  our  authors  will  answer  better  than 
I  can  do.  The  generalitj^pof  them,  and,  among  others,  our 
four-and-twenty  elders,  describe  it  thus :  '  An  opinion  is 
called  probable,  when  it  is  founded  upon  reasons  of  some 
consideration.  Hence  it  may  sometimes  happen  that  a  single 
very  grave  doctor  may  render  an  opinion  probable.'  The  rea- 
son is  added :  '  For  a  man  particularly  given  to  study  would 
not  adhere  to  an  opinion  unless  he  was  drawn  to  it  by  a 
good  and  sufficient  reason.'  " 

"  So  it  would  appear,"  I  observed,  with  a  smile,  "  that 
a  single  doctor  may  turn  consciences  round  about  and  up- 
side down  as  he  pleases,  and  yet  always  land  them  in  a  safe 
position." 

"  You  must  not  laugh  at  it,  sir,"  returned  the  monk ;  "nor 
need  you  attempt  to  combat  the  doctrine.  The  Jansenists 
tried  this ;  but  they  might  have  saved  themselves  the  trou- 
ble— it  is  too  firmly  established.  Hear  Sanchez,  one  of  the 
most  famous  of  our  fathers :  '  You  may  doubt,  perhaps, 
whether  the  authority  of  a  single  good  and  learned  doctor 
renders  an  opinion  probable.  I  answer,  that  it  does ;  and 
this  is  confirmed  by  Angelus,  Sylvester  Navarre,  Emanuel 
Sa,  <fec.  It  is  proved  thus :  A  probable  opinion  is  one  that 

*  "  The  casuists  are  divided  into  Probabilista:  and  ProbaUlloristce. 
The  first,  among  whom  were  the  Jesuits,  maintain  that  a  certain  degree 
of  probability  as  to  the  lawfulness  of  an  action  is  enough  to  secure 
against  sin.  The  second,  supported  by  the  Dominicans  and  the  Janse- 
nists (a  kind  of  Catholic  Calvinists  condemned  by  the  Church),  insist 
on  always  taking  the  safest  or  most  probable  side.  The  French  proverb, 
Le  mieux  est  I'ennemi.  du  Men,  is  perfectly  applicable  to  the  practical 
effects  of  these  two  systems  in  Spain."  (Letters  from  Spain,  p.  277.) 
Nicole  has  a  long  dissertation  on  the  subject  in  his  Notes  on  this  Letter. 


128  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

has  a  considerable  foundation.  Now  the  authority  of  a 
learned  and  pious  man  is  entitled  to  very  great  considera- 
tion ;  because  (mark  the  reason),  if  the  testimony  of  such  a 
man  has  great  influence  in  convincing  us  that  such  and  such 
an  event  occurred,  say  at  Rome,  for  example,  why  should 
it  not  have  the  same  weight  in  the  case  of  a  question  in 
morals  ?'  " 

"  An  odd  comparison  this,"  interrupted  I,  "  between  the 
concerns  of  the  world  and  those  of  conscience  !" 

"  Have  a  little  patience,"  rejoined  the  monk ;  "  Sanchez 
answers  that  in  the  very  next  sentence  :  '  Nor  can  I  assent  to 
the  qualification  made  here  by  some  writers,  namely,  that  the 
authority  of  such  a  doctor,  though  sufficient  in  matters  of 
human  right,  is  not  so  in  those  of  divine  right.  It  is  of  vast 
weight  in  both  cases.'  " 

"  Well,  father,"  said  I,  frankly,  "  I  really  cannot  admire 
that  rule.  Who  can  assure  me,  considering  the  freedom 
your  doctors  claim  to  examine  everything  by  reason,  that 
what  appears  safe  to  one  may  seem  so  to  all  the  rest  ?  The 
diversity  of  judgments  is  so  great" — 

"  You  don't  understand  it,"  said  he,  interrupting  me  ;  "no 
doubt  they  are  often  of  different  sentiments,  but  what  signi- 
fies that  ? — each  renders  his  own  opinion  probable  and  safe. 
We  all  know  well  enough  that  they  are  far  from  being  of 
the  same  mind  ;  "what  is  more,  there  is  hardly  an  instance  in 
•which  they  ever  agree.  There  are  very  few  questions,  in- 
deed, in  which  you  do  not  find  the  one  saying  Yes,  and  the 
other  saying  No.  Still,  in  all  these  cases,  each  of  the  con- 
trary opinions  is  probable.  And  hence  Diana  says  on  a  cer- 
tain subject :  '  Ponce  and  Sanchez  hold  opposite  views  of  it ; 
but,  as  they  are  both  learned  men,  each  renders  his  own 
opinion  probable.'  " 

"  But,  father,"  I  remarked,  "  a  person  must  be  sadly  em- 
barrassed in  choosing  between  them!" — "Not  at  all,"  he 
rejoined ;  "  he  has  only  to  follow  the  opinion  which  suits 
him  best." — "  What !  if  the  other  is  more  probable  ?"  "  It 
does  not  signify." — "  And  if  the  other  is  the  safer  ?"  "  It 


DOCTRINE    OF    PROBABILI1T.  129 

does  not  signify,"  repeated  the  monk  ;  "  this  is  made  quite 
plain  by  Emanuel  Saj  of  our  Society,  in  his  Aphorisms  :  '  A 
person  may  do  what  he  considers  allowable  according  to  a 
probable  opinion,  though  the  contrary  may  be  the  safer  one. 
The  opinion  of  a  single  grave  doctor  is  all  that  is  requisite.'  " 

"  And  if  an  opinion  be  at  once  the  less  probable  and  the 
less  safe,  is  it  allowable  to  follow  it/'  I  asked,  "  even  in  the 
way  of  rejecting  one  which  we  believe  to  be  more  probable 
and  safe  ?" 

"  Once  more,  I  say  Yes,"  replied  the  monk.  "  Hear  what 
Filiutius,  that  great  Jesuit  of  Rome,  says :  '  It  is  allowable 
to  follow  the  less  probable  opinion,  even  though  it  be  the 
less  safe  one.  That  is  the  common  judgment  of  modern 
authors.'  Is  not  that  quite  clear  ?" 

"  Well,  reverend  father,"  said  I,  "  you  have  given  us 
elbow-room,  at  all  events  !  Thanks  to  your  probable  opin- 
ions, we  have  got  liberty  of  conscience  with  a  witness !  And 
are  you  casuists  allowed  the  same  latitude  in  giving  your 
responses  ?" 

"  0  yes,"  said  he,  "  we  answer  just  as  we  please ;  or 
rather,  I  should  say,  just  as  it  may  please  those  who  ask  our 
advice.  Here  are  our  rules,  taken  from  Fathers  Layman, 
Vasquez,  Sanchez,  and  the  four-and-twenty  worthies,  in  the 
words  of  Layman  :  '  A  doctor,  on  being  consulted,  may  give 
an  advice,  not  only  probable  according  to  his  own  opinion, 
but  contrary  to  his  opinion,  provided  this  judgment  hap- 
pens to  be  more  favorable  or  more  agreeable  to  the  per- 
son that  consults  him — si  forte  hcec  favordbilior  sen  exoptatior 
sit.  Nay,  I  go  further,  and  say,  that  there  would  be  nothing 
unreasonable  in  his  giving  those  who  consult  him  a  judgment 
held  to  be  probable  by  some  learned  person,  even  though 
he  should  be  satisfied  in  his  own  mind  that  it  is  absolutely 
false.'  " 

"  Well,  seriously,  father,"  I  said,  "  your  doctrine  is  a  most 

uncommonly  comfortable  one  !     Only  think  of  being  allowed 

to  answer  Yes  or  No,  just  as  you  please  !     It  is  impossible  to 

prize  such  a  privilege  too  highly.     I  see  now  the  advantage 

6* 


130  PROVINCIAL   BETTERS. 

of  the  contrary  opinions  of  your  doctors.  One  of  them  al- 
ways serves  your  turn,  and  the  other  never  gives  you  any 
annoyance.  If  you  do  not  find  your  account  on  the  one 
side,  you  fall  back  on  the  other,  and  always  land  in  perfect 
safety." 

"  That  is  quite  true,"  he  replied ;  "  and  accordingly,  we 
may  always  say  with  Diana,  on  his  finding  that  Father  Bauny 
was  on  his  side,  while  Father  Lugo  was  against  him  :  Scepe 
premente  deo,  fert  deus  alter  opem."* 

"  I  understand  you,"  resumed  I ;  "  but  a  practical  diffi- 
culty has  just  occurred  to  me,  which  is  this,  that  supposing 
a  person  to  have  consulted  one  of  your  doctors,  and  obtained 
from  him  a  pretty  liberal  opinion,  there  is  some  danger  of  his 
getting  into  a  scrape  by  meeting  a  confessor  who  takes  a  dif- 
ferent view  of  the  matter,  and  refuses  him  absolution  unless 
he  recant  the  sentiment  of  the  casuist.  Have  you  not  pro- 
vided for  such  a  case  as  that,  father  ?" 

"  Can  you  doubt  it  ?"  he  replied.  "  We  have  bound  them, 
sir,  to  absolve  their  penitents  who  act  according  to  probable 
opinions,  under  the  pain  of  mortal  sin,  to  secure  their  com- 
pliance. '  When  the  penitent,'  says  Father  Bauny,  '  follows 
a  probable  opinion,  the  confessor  is  bound  to  absolve  him, 
though  his  opinion  should  differ  from  that  of  his  penitent.'  " 

"  But  he  does  not  say  it  would  be  a  mortal  sin  not  to  ab- 
solve him,"  said  I. 

"  How  hasty  you  are !"  rejoined  the  monk  ;  "  listen  to  what 
follows ;  he  has  expressly  decided  that,  '  to  refuse  absolutic  n 
to  a  penitent  who  acts  according  to  a  probable  opinion,  is.  a 
sin  which  is  in  its  nature  mortal.'  And  to  settle  that  point, 
he  cites  the  most  illustrious  of  our  fathers — Suarez,  Vasque#, 
and  Sanchez." 

"  My  dear  sir,"  said  I,  "  that  is  a  most  prudent  regulation. 
I  see  nothing  to  fear  now.  No  confessor  can  dare  to  be  re- 
fractory after  this.  Indeed,  I  was  not  aware  that  you  had 
the  power  of  issuing  your  orders  on  pain  of  damnation.  I 

*  "  When  one  god  presses  hard,  another  brings  relief." 


DOCTRINE    OF    PROBABILITY.  131 

thought  that  your  skill  had  been  confined  to  the  taking  away 
of  sins ;  I  had  no  idea  that  it  extended  to  the  introduction 
of  new  ones.  But  from  what  I  now  see,  you  are  omnipo- 
tent." 

"  That  is  not  a  correct  way  of  speaking,"  rejoined  the  fa- 
ther. "  We  do  not  introduce  sins  ;  we  only  pay  attention  to 
them.  I  have  had  occasion  to  remark,  two  or  three  times 
during  our  conversation,  that  you  are  no  great  scholastic." 

"  Be  that  as  it  may,  father,  you  have  at  least  answered  my 
difficulty.  But  I  have  another  to  suggest.  How  do  you 
manage  when  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  happen  to  differ 
from  any  of  your  casuists  ?" 

"  You  really  know  very  little  of  the  subject,"  he  replied. 
"  The  Fathers  were  good  enough  for  the  morality  of  their 
own  times ;  but  they  lived  too  far  back  for  that  of  the  pres- 
ent age,  which  is  no  longer  regulated  by  them,  but  by  the 
modern  casuists.  On  this  Father  Cellot,  following  the  famous 
Reginald,  remarks :  '  In  questions  of  morals,  the  modern  casu- 
ists are  to  be  preferred  to  the  ancient  fathers,  though  those 
lived  nearer  to  the  times  of  the  apostles.'  And  following  out 
this  maxim,  Diana  thus  decides :  '  Are  beneficiaries  bound  to 
restore  their  revenue  when  guilty  of  mal-appropriation  of  it  ? 
The  ancients  would  say  Yes,  but  the  moderns  say  No  ;  let  us, 
therefore,  adhere  to  the  latter  opinion,  which  relieves  from 
the  obligation  of  restitution.'  " 

"  Delightful  words  these,  and  most  comfortable  they  must 
be  to  a  great  many  people !"  I  observed. 

"  We  leave  the  fathers,"  resumed  the  monk,  "  to  those 
who  deal  with  positive  divinity.*  As  for  us,  who  are  the 

*  In  the  twelfth  century,  in  consequence  of  the  writings  of  Peter 
Lombard,  commonly  called  the  "  Master  of  the  Sentences,"  the  Chris- 
tian doctors  were  divided  into  two  classes — the  Positive  or  dogmatic, 
and  the  Scholastic  divines.  The  Positive  divines,  who  were  the  teachers 
of  systematic  divinity,  expounded,  though  in  a  wretched  manner,  the 
Sacred  Writings,  and  confirmed  their  sentiments  by  Scripture  and  tra- 
dition. The  scholastics  instead  of  the  Bible,  explained  the  book  of 
Sentences,  indulging  in  the  most  idle  and  ridiculous  speculations. — cl  The 
practice  of  choosing  a  certain  priest,  not  only  to  be  the  occasional  con- 
fessor, but  the  director  of  the  conscience,  was  greatly  encouraged  by  the 
Jesuits."  (Letters  from  Spain,  p.  89.) 


132  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

directors  of  conscience,  we  read  very  little  of  them,  and  quote 
only  the  modern  casuists.  There  is  Diana,  for  instance,  a 
most  voluminous  writer ;  he  has  prefixed  to  his  works  a  list 
of  his  authorities,  which  amount  to  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
six,  and  the  most  ancient  of  them  is  only  about  eighty  years 
old." 

"  It  woold  appear,  then,"  I  remarked,  "  that  all  these  have 
come  into  the  world  since  the  date  of  your  Society  ?" 

"Thereabouts,"  he  replied. 

"  That  is  to  say,  dear  father,  on  your  advent.  St.  Augus- 
tine, St.  Chrysostom,  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Jerome,  and  all  the 
rest,  in  so  far  as  morals  are  concerned,  disappeared  from  the 
stage.  Would  you  be  so  kind  as  let  me  know  the  names,  at 
least,  of  those  modern  authors  who  have  succeeded  them  ?" 

"A  most  able  and  renowned  class  of  men  they  are,"  re- 
plied the  monk.  "  Their  names  are,  Villabolos,  Conink,  Lla- 
mas, Achokier,  Dealkozer,  Dellacrux,  Veracruz,  Uorolin,  Tam- 
bourin,  Fernandez,  Martinez,  Suarez,  Henriquez,  Vasquez,  Lo- 
pez, Gomez,  Sanchez,  De  Vechis,  De  Grassis,  De  Grassalis, 
De  Pitigianis,  De  Graphceis,  Squilanti,  Bizozeri,  Barcola,  De 
Bobadilla,  Simancha,  Perez  de  Lara,  Aldretta,  Lorca,  De 
Scarcia,  Quaranta,  Scophra,  Pedezza,  Cabrezza,  Bisbe,  Dias, 
De  Clavasis,  Villagut,  Adam  a  Manden,  Iribarne,  Binsfeld, 
Volfangi  a  Vorberg,  Vosthery,  Strevesdorf."* 

"  O  my  dear  father !"  cried  I,  quite  alarmed,  "  were  all 
these  people  Christians  ?" 

"  How !  Christians  !"  returned  the  casuist ;  "  did  I  not  tell 

*  In  this  extraordinary  list  of  obscure  and  now  forgotten  casuistical 
writers,  most  of  them  belonging  to  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Flanders,  the 
art  of  the  author  lies  in  stringing  together  the  most  outlandish  names  he 
could  collect,  ranging  them  mostly  according  to  their  terminations,  and 
placing  them  in  contrast  with  the  venerable  and  well-known  names  of 
the  ancient  fathers.  To  a  French  ear  these  names  must  have  sounded 
as  uncouth  and  barbarous  as  those  of  the  Scotch  which  Milton  has 
satirized  to  the  ear  of  an  Englishman  : — 

"  Cries  the  stall-reader,  '  Bless  us !  what  a  word  on 
A  title-page  is  this  !'     Why.  is  it  harder,  sirs,  than  Gordon, 
Colkitto,  or  Macdonnel,  or  Galasp  1 
Those  rugged  names  to  our  like  mouths  grow  sleek, 
That  would  have  made  duintilian  stare  and  gasp." 

(Milton5*!  Minor  Poems.) 


DOCTRINE    OF    PROBABILITY.  133 

you  that  these  are  the  only  writers  by  whom  we  now  govern 
Christendom  ?" 

Deeply  affected  as  I  was  by  this  announcement,  I  concealed 
my  emotion  from  the  monk,  and  only  asked  him  if  all  these 
authors  were  Jesuits  ? 

"No,"  said  he;  "but  that  is  of  little  -  consequence  ;  they 
have  said  a  number  of  good  things  for  all  that.  It  is  true 
the  greater  part  of  these  same  good  things  are  extracted  or 
copied  from  our  authors,  but  we  do  not  stand  on  ceremony 
with  them  on  that  score,  more  especially  as  they  are  in  the 
constant  habit  of  quoting  our  authors  with  applause.  When 
Diana,  for  example,  who  does  not  belong  to  our  Society, 
speaks  of  Vasquez,  he  calls  him  'that  phoenix  of  genius;' 
and  he  declares  more  than  once,  '  that  Vasquez  alone  is  to 
him  worth  all  the  rest  of  men  put  together' — instar  omnium. 
Accordingly,  our  fathers  often  make  use  of  this  good  Diana; 
and  if  you  understand  our  doctrine  of  probability,  you  will 
see  that  this  is  no  small  help  in  its  way.  In  fact,  we  are 
anxious  that  others  besides  the  Jesuits  would  render  their 
opinions  probable,  to  prevent  people  from  ascribing  them  all 
to  us  ;  for  you  will  observe,  that  when  any  author,  whoever 
he  may  be,  advances  a  probable  opinion,  we  are  3ntitled,  by 
the  doctrine  of  probability,  to  adopt  it  if  we  please ;  and  yet, 
if  the  author  do  not  belong  to  our  fraternity,  we  are  not  re- 
sponsible for  its  soundness." 

"  I  understand  all  that,"  said  I.  "  It  is  easy  to  see  that  all 
are  welcome  that  come  your  way,  except  the  ancient  fathers ; 
you  are  masters  of  the  field,  and  have  only  to  walk  the 
course.  But  I  foresee  three  or  four  serious  difficulties  and 
powerful  barriers  which  will  oppose  your  career." 

"And  what  are  these?"  cried  the  monk,  looking  quite 
alarmed. 

"  They  are,  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  I  replied,  "  the  popes, 
and  the  councils,  whom  you  cannot  gainsay,  and  who  are  all 
in  the  way  of  the  Gospel."* 

*  That  is,  they  were  all,  in  Pascal's  opinior,  favorable  to  the  Gospel 
•cheme  of  morality. 


134  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

"  Is  that  all !"  he  exclaimed ;  "  I  declare  you  put  me  in  a 
flight.  Do  you  imagine  that  we  would  overlook  such  an 
obvious  scruple  as  that,  or  that  we  have  not  provided  against 
it  ?  A  good  idea,  forsooth,  to  suppose  that  we  would  con- 
tradict Scripture,  popes,  and  councils  !  I  must  convince  yon 
of  your  mistake ;  for  I  should  be  sorry  you  should  go  away 
with  an  impression  that  we  are  deficient  in  our  respect  to 
these  authorities.  You  have  doubtless  taken  up  this  notion 
from  some  of  the  opinions  of  our  fathers,  which  are  appa- 
rently at  variance  with  their  decisions,  though  in  reality  they 
are  not.  But  to  illustrate  the  harmony  between  them  would 
require  more  leisure  than  we  have  at  present ;  and  as  I  would 
not  like  you  to  retain  a  bad  impression  of  us,  if  you  agree  to 
meet  with  me  to-morrow,  I  shall  clear  it  all  up  then." 

Thus  ended  our  interview,  and  thus  shall  end  my  present 
communication,  which  has  been  long  enough,  besides,  for  one 
letter.  I  am  sure  you  will  be  satisfied  with  it,  hi  the  prospect 
of  what  is  forthcom'jig. — I  am,  <fec. 


LETTER  VI. 

VARIOUS  ARTIFICES  OF  THE  JESUITS  TO  ELUDE  THE  AUTHORITY 
OF  THE  GOSPEL,  OF  COUNCILS,  AND  OF  THE  POPES SOME  CON- 
SEQUENCES WHICH  RESULT  FROM  THEIR  DOCTRINE  OF  PROBA- 
BILITY  THEIR  RELAXATION  IN  FAVOR  OF  BENEFICIARIES,  PRIESTS, 

MONKS,  AND   DOMESTICS — STORY  OF   JOHN  D'ALBA. 

PARIS,  April  10,  1656. 

SIR, — I  mentioned,  at  the  close  of  ray  last  letter,  that  my 
good  friend  the  Jesuit  had  promised  to  show  me  how  the 
casuists  reconcile  the  contrarieties  "between  their  opinions 
and  the  decisions  of  the  popes,  the  councils,  and  the  Scripture. 
This  promise  he  fulfilled  at  our  last  interview,  of  which  I 
shall  now  give  you  an  account. 

"  One  of  the  methods,"  resumed  the  mo'nk,  "  in  which  we 
reconcile  these  apparent  contradictions,  is  by  the  interpre- 
tation of  some  phrase.  Thus,  Pope  Gregory  XIV.  decided 
that  assassins  are  not  worthy  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  sanctu- 
ary in  churches,  and  ought  to  be  dragged  out  of  them ;  and 
yet  our  four-and-twenty  elders  affirm  that  '  the  penalty  of 
this  bull  is  not  incused  by  all  those  that  kill  in  treachery.' 
This  may  appear  to  you  a  contradiction ;  but  we  get  over 
this  by  interpreting  the  word  assassin  as  follows :  '  Are  as- 
sassins unworthy  of  sanctuary  in  churches  ?  Yes,  by  the 
bull  of  Gregory  XIV.  they  are.  But  by  the  word  assassins 
we  understand  those  that  have  received  money  to  murder 
one ;  and  accordingly,  such  as  kill  without  taking  any  re- 
ward for  the  deed,  but  merely  to  oblige  their  friends,  do  not 
come  under  the  category  of  assassins.'  " 

"  Take  another  instance  :  It  is  said  in  the  Gospel,  '  Give 
alms  of  your  superfluity.'*  Several  Casuists,  however,  have 

*  Luke  xi.  41. —  Quod  superest,  date  eleemosynam  (Vulgate);  ra  Iwra 


136  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

contrived  to  discharge  the  wealthiest  from  the  obligation  of 
alms-giving.  This  may  appear  another  paradox,  but  the 
matter  is  easily  put  to  rights  by  giving  such  an  interpretation 
to  the  word  superfluity  that  it  will  seldom  or  never  happen 
that  any  one  is  troubled  with  such  an  article.  This  feat  has 
been  accomplished  by  the  learned  Vasquez,  in  his  Treatise 
on  Alms,  c.  4  :  '  What  men  of  the  world  lay  up  to  improve 
their  circumstances,  or  those  of  their  relatives,  cannot  be 
termed  superfluity  ;  and  accordingly,  such  a  thing  as  super- 
fluity is  seldom  to  be  found  among  men  of  the  world,  not  even 
excepting  kings.'  Diana,  too,  who  generally  founds  on  our 
fathers,  having  quoted  these  words  of  Vasquez,  justly  con- 
cludes, '  that  as  to  the  question  whether  the  rich  are  bound 
to  give  alms  of  their  superfluity,  even  though  the  affirmative 
were  true,  it  will  seldom  or  never  happen  to  be  obligatory  in 
practice.'  " 

"  I  see  very  well  how  that  follows  from  the  doctrine  of 
Vasquez,"  said  I.  "  But  how  would  you  answer  this  objec- 
tion, that,  in  working  out  one's  salvation,  it  would  be  as  safe, 
according  to  Vasquez,  to  give  no  alms,  provided  one  can 
muster  as  much  ambition  as  to  have  no  superfluity ;  as  it 
is  safe,  according  to  the  Gospel,  to  have  no  ambition  at  all, 
in  order  to  have  some  superfluity  for  the  purpose  of  alms- 
giving ?"* 

"  Why,"  returned  he,  "  the  answer  would  be,  that  both 

arc  (Gr.);  Ea  guts  penes  DOS  sunt  date  (Beza);  "  Give  alms  of  such 
things  as  ye  have."  (Eng.  Ver.) 

*  When  Pascal  speaks  of  alms-giving  "  working  out  our  salvation," 
it  is  evident  that  he  regarded  it  only  as  the  evidence  of  our  heing  in 
a  state  of  salvation.  Judging  by  the  history  of  his  life,  and  by  his 
"  Thoughts  on  Religion,"  no  man 'was  more  free  from  spiritual  pride,  or 
that  poor  species  of  it  which  boasts  of  or  rests  in  its  eleemosynary  sacri- 
fices. His  charity  flowed  from  love  and  gratitude  to  God.  Such  was 
his  regard  for  the  poor  that  he  could  not  refuse  to  give  alms,  even 
though  compelled  to  take  from  the  supply  necessary  to  relieve  his  own 
infirmities :  and  on  his  death-bed  he  entreated  that  a  poor  person  should 
be  brought  into  the  house  and  treated  with  the  same  attention  as  him- 
self, declaring  that  when  he  thought  of  his  own  comforts  and  of  the 
multitudes  who  were  destitute  of  the  merest  necessaries,  he  felt  a  dis- 
tress which  he  could  not  endure.  "  One  thing  I  have  observed."  he 
says  in  his  Thoughts — "that  let  a  man  be  ever  so  poor,  he  has  always 
something  to  leave  on  his  death-bed." 


JESUITICAL   ELUSIONS.  137 

of  these  ways  are  safe  according  to  the  Gospel ;  the  one  ac- 
cording to  the  Gospel  in  its  more  literal  and  obvious  sense, 
and  the  other  according  to  the  same  Gospel  as  interpreted 
by  Vasquez.  There  you  see  the  utility  of  interpretations. 
When  the  terms  are  so  clear,  however,"  he  continued,  "as 
not  to  admit  of  an  interpretation,  we  have  recourse  to  the 
observation  of  favorable  circumstances.  A  single  example 
will  illustrate  this.  The  popes  have  denounced  excommuni- 
cation on  monks  who  lay  aside  their  canonicals  ;  our  casuists, 
notwithstanding,  put  it  as  a  question,  '  On  what  occasions 
may  a  monk  lay  aside  his  religious  habit  without  incurring 
excommunication  ?'  They  mention  a  number  of  cases  in 
which  they  may,  and  among  others  the  following :  '  If  he 
has  laid  it  aside  for  an  infamous  purpose,  such  as  to  pick 
pockets  or  to  go  incognito  into  haunts  of  profligacy,  meaning 
shortly  after  to  resume  it.'  It  is  evident  the  bulls  have  no 
reference  to  cases  of  that  description." 

I  could  hardly  believe  that,  and  begged  the  father  to  show 
me  the  passage  in  the  original.  He  did  so,  and  under  the 
chapter  headed  "  Practice  according  to  the  School  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus" — Praxis  ex  Societatis  Jesu  Sckola — I  read 
these  very  words :  Si  habitum  dimittat  ut  furetur  occulte, 
vel  fornicetur.  He  showed  me  the  same  thing  in  Diana,  in 
these  terms :  Ut  eat  incogrtitus  ad  lupanar.  "  And  why, 
father,"  I  asked,  "  are  they  discharged  from  excommunication 
on  such  occasions  ?" 

"  Don't  you  understand  it  ?"  he  replied.  "  Only  think 
what  a  scandal  it  would  be,  were  a  monk  surprised  in  such 
a  predicament  with  his  canonicals  on  !  And  have  you  never 
heard,"  he  continued,  "  how  they  answer  the  first  bull  con- 
tra sollicitantes?  and  how  our  four-and-twenty,  in  another 
chapter  of  the  Practice  according  to  the  School  of  our  Soci- 
ety, explain  the  bull  of  Pius  V.  contra  clericos,  &c.  ?"* 

"  I  know  nothing  about  all  that,"  said  I. 

*  These  bulls  were  directed  against  gross  and  unnatural  crimes  pre- 
vailing among  the  clergy.  (Nicolo,  ii.  pp.  372-376.) 


138  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

"  Then  it  is  a  sign  you  have  not  read  much  of  Escobar," 
returned  the  monk. 

"  I  got  him  only  yesterday,  father,"  said  I ;  "  and  I  had 
no  small  difficulty,  too,  in  procuring  a  copy.  I  don't  know- 
how  it  is,  but  everybody  of  late  has  been  in  search  of 
him."* 

"  The  passage  to  which  I  referred,"  returned  the  monk, 
"may  be  found  in  treatise  1,  example  8,  no.  102.  Consult 
it  at  your  leisure  when  you  go  home." 

I  did  so  that  very  night ;  but  it  is  so  shockingly  bad,  that 
I  dare  not  transcribe  it. 

The  good  father  then  went  on  to  say  :  "  You  now  understand 
what  use  we  make  of  favorable  circumstances.  Sometimes, 
however,  obstinate  cases  will  occur,  which  will  not  admit  of 
this  mode  of  adjustment ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  you  would 
almost  suppose  they  involved  flat  contradictions.  For  exam- 
ple, three  popes  have  decided  that  monks  who  are  bound  by 
a  particular  vow  to  a  Lenten  life,f  cannot  be  absolved  from 
it  even  though  they  should  become  bishops.  And  yet  Diana 
avers  that  notwithstanding  this  decision  they  are  absolved." 

"  And  how  does  he  reconcile  that  ?"  said  I. 

"  By  the  most  subtle  of  all  the  modern  methods,  and  by 
the  nicest  possible  application  of  probability,"  replied  the 
monk.  "  You  may  recollect  you  were  told  the  other  day, 
that  the  affirmative  and  negative  of  most  opinions  have  each, 
according  to  our  doctors,  some  probability — enough,  at  least, 
to  be  followed  with  a  safe  conscience.  Not  that  the  pro  and 
con  are  both  true  in  the  same  sense — that  is  impossible — but 
only  they  are  both  probable,  and  therefore  safe,  as  a  matter 
of  course.  On  this  principle  our  worthy  friend  Diana  re- 
marks :  '  To  the  decision  of  these  three  popes,  which  is  con- 
trary to  my  opinion,  I  answer,  that  they  spoke  in  this  way 
by  adhering  to  the  affirmative  side — which,  in  fact,  even  in 
my  judgment,  is  probable ;  but  it  does  not  follow  from  this 

*  An  allusion  to  the  popularity  of  the  Letters,  which  induced  many 
to  inquire  after  the  casuistical  writings  so  often  quoted  in  them, 
f  Lenten  ljfe—&n  abstemious  life,  or  life  of  fasting. 


JESUITICAL   ELUSIONS.  139 

that  the  negative  may  not  have  its  probability  too.'  And  in 
the  same  treatise,  speaking  of  another  subject  on  which  he 
again  differs  from  a  pope,  he  says  :  '  The  pope,  I  grant,  has 
said  it  as  the  head  of  the  Church ;  but  his  decision  does  not 
extend  beyond  the  sphere  of  the  probability  of  his  own 
opinion.'  Now  you  perceive  this  is  not  doing  any  harm  to 
the  opinions  of  the  popes  ;  such  a  thing  would  never  be  tol- 
erated at  Rome,  where  Diana  is  in  high  repute.  For  he  does 
not  say  that  what  the  popes  have  decided  is  not  probable ; 
but  leaving  their  opinion  within  the  sphere  of  probability,  he 
merely  says  that  the  contrary  is  also  probable." 

"  That  is  very  respectful,"  said  I. 

"  Yes,"  added  the  monk,  "  and  rather  more  ingenious  than 
the  reply  made  by  Father  Bauny,  when  his  books  were  cen- 
sured at  Rome ;  for  when  pushed  very  hard  on  this  point  by 
M.  Hallier,  he  made  bold  to  write  :  '  What  has  the  censure 
of  Rome  to  do  with  that  of  France  ?'  You  now  see  how, 
either  by  the  interpretation  of  terms,  by  the  observation  of 
favorable  circumstances,  or  by  the  aid  of  the  double  proba- 
bility of  pro  and  con,  we  always  contrive  to  reconcile  those 
seeming  contradictions  which  occasioned  you  so  much  sur- 
prise, without  ever  touching  on  the  decisions  of  Scripture, 
councils,  or  popes." 

"  Reverend  father,"  said  I,  "  how  happy  the  world  is  in 
having  such  men  as  you  for  its  masters !  And  what  bless- 
ings are  these  probabilities !  I  never  knew  the  reason  why 
you  took  such  pains  to  establish  that  a  single  doctor,  if  a 
grave  one,  might  render  an  opinion  probable,  and  that  the 
contrary  might  be  so  too,  and  that  one  may  choose  any  side 
one  pleases,  even  though  he  does  not  believe  it  to  be  the 
right  side,  and  all  with  such  a  safe  conscience,  that  the  con- 
fessor who  should  refuse  him  absolution  on  the  faith  of  the 
casuists  would  be  in  a  State  of  damnation.  But  I  see  now 
that  a  single  casuist  may  make  new  rules  of  morality  at  his 
discretion,  and  dispose,  according  to  his  fancy,  of  everything 
pertaining  to  the  regulation  of  manners." 

"What  you  have  now  said,"  rejoined  the  father,  "would 


140  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

require  to  be  modified  a  little.  Pay  attention  now,  while  I 
explain  our  method,  and  you  will  observe  the  progress  of  a 
new  opinion,  from  its  birth  to  its  maturity.  First,  the  grave 
doctor  who  invented  it  exhibits  it  to  the  world,  casting  it 
abroad  like  seed,  that  it  may  take  root.  In  this  state  it  is 
very  feeble ;  it  requires  time  gradually  to  ripen.  This  ac- 
counts for  Diana,  who  has  introduced  a  great  many  of  these 
opinions,  saying :  '  I  advance  this  opinion  ;  but  as  it  is  new, 
I  give  it  time  to  come  to  maturity — relinquo  tempori  matu- 
randum.'  Thus  in  a  few  years  it  becomes  insensibly  consoli- 
dated ;  and  after  a  considerable  time  it  is  sanctioned  by  the 
tacit  approbation  of  the  Church,  according  to  the  grand  max- 
im of  Father  Bauny,  '  that  if  an  opinion  has  been  advanced 
by  some  casuist,  and  has  not  been  impugned  by  the  Church, 
it  is  a  sign  that  she  approves  of  it.'  And,  in  fact,  on  this 
principle  he  authenticates  one  of  his  own  principles  in  his 
sixth  treatise,  p.  312." 

"  Indeed,  father !"  cried  I,  "  why,  on  this  principle  the 
Church  would  approve  of  all  the  abuses  which  she  tolerates, 
and  all  the  errors  in  all  the  books  which  she  does  not  cen- 
sure !" 

"Dispute  the  point  with  Father  Bauny,"  he  replied.  "I 
am  merely  quoting  his  words,  and  you  begin  to  quarrel  with 
me.  There  is  no  disputing  with  facts,  sir.  Well,  as  I  was 
saying,  when  time  has  thus  matured  an  opinion,  it  thence- 
forth becomes  completely  probable  and  safe.  Hence  the 
learned  Caramuel,  in  dedicating  his  Fundamental  Theology 
to  Diana,  declares  that  this  great  Diana  has  rendered  many 
opinions  probable  which  were  not  so  before — quce  antea  non 
erant ;  and  that,  therefore,  in  following  them,  persons  do  not 
sin  now,  though  they  would  have  sinned  formerly — -jam  non 
peccant,  licet  ante  peccaverint." 

"Truly,  father,"  I  observed,  "it  must  be  worth  one's 
while  living  in  the  neighborhood  of  your  doctors.  Why,  of 
two  individuals  who  do  the  same  actions,  he  that  knows  noth- 
ing about  their  doctrine  sins,  while  he  that  knows  it  does  no 
sin.  It  seems,  then,  that  their  doctrine  possesses  at  once  an 


MAXIMS    FOR   ALL    CLASSES.  141 

edifying  and  a  justifying  virtue  !  The  law  of  God,  accord- 
ing to  St.  Paul,  made  transgressors  ;*  but  this  law  of  yours 
makes  nearly  all  of  us  innocent.  I  beseech  you,  my  dear 
sir,  let  me  know  all  about  it.  I  will  not  leave  you  till  you 
have  told  me  all  the  maxims  which  your  casuists  have  estab- 
lished." 

"  Alas  !"  the  monk  exclaimed,  "  our  main  object,  no  doubt, 
should  have  been  to  establish  no  other  maxims  than  those 
of  the  Gospel  in  all  their  strictness :  and  it  is  easy  to  see, 
from  the  Rules  for  the  regulation  of  our  manners,f  that  if 
we  tolerate  some  degree  of  relaxation  in  others,  it  is  rather 
out  of  complaisance  than  through  design.  The  truth  is,  sir, 
•we  are  forced  to  it.  Men  have  arrived  at  such  a  pitch  of  cor- 
ruption now-a-days,  tha't  unable  to  make  them  come  to  us, 
we  must  e'en  go  to  them,  otherwise  they  would  cast  us  off 
altogether ;  and  what  is  worse,  they  would  become  perfect 
castaways.  It  is  to  retain  such  characters  as  these  that  our 
casuists  have  taken  under  consideration  the  vices  to  which 
people  of  various  conditions  are  most  addicted,  with  the  view 

*  PrtTiaricateurs. — Alluding  probably  to  such  texts  as  Rom.  iv.  15  '. 
"  The  law  worketli  wrath ;  for  whert  no  law  is,  there  is  no  transgres- 
sion.1'—  Ubi  enim  non  est  lex,  nee  pretaricatio  (Vulg.)  ;  or  Rom.  v. 
13.  &c. 

t  The  Rules  (Regulce  Communes}  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  it  must  be 
admitted,  are  rigid  enough  in  the  enforcement  of  moral  decency  and 
discipline  on  the  members  ;  and  the  perfect  candor  of  Pascal  appears 
in  the  admission.  This,  however,  only  adds  weight  to  the  real  charge 
which  he  substantiates  against  them,  of  teaching  maxims  which  tend 
to  the  subversion  of  .morality.  With  regard  to  their  personal  conduct, 
different  opinions  prevail.  •'  What&ver  we  may  think  of  the  political 
delinquencies  of  their  leaders,"  says  Bla»co  White.  "  their  bitterest  ene- 
mies have  never  ventured  to  charge  the  order  of  Jesuits  with  moral 
irregularities.  The  internal  policy  of  that  body,"  he  adds,  "precluded 
the  possibility  of  gross  misconduct."  (Letters  from  Spain  p.  8!).)  We 
are  far  from  being  sure  of  this.  The  remark  seems  to  apply  to  only  one 
species  of  vice,  too  common  in  monastic  life,  and  may  be  true  of  the 
conventual  establishments  of  the  Jesuits,  where  outward  decency  forms 
part  of  the  deep  policy  of  the  order ;  Iwt  what  dependence  can  be  placed 
on  the  moral  purity  of  men  whose  consciences  must  be  debauched  by 
such  maxims  1  Jarrige  informs  us  that  they  boasted  at  one  time  in 
Spain  of  possessing  an  herb  which  preserved  their  chastity ;  and  on  be- 
ing questioned  by  the  king  to  tell  what  it  was,  they  replied  :  "  It  was  the 
fear  oi'God."  -'But.''  says  the  author,  "  whatever  they  might  be  then, 
it  is  plain  that  they  have  since  lost  the  seed  of  that  herb,  for  it  no  longer 
grows  in  their  garden."  (Jesuites  sur  1'Echaufaud,  ch.  6.) 


142  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

of  laying  down  maxims  which,  while  they  cannot  be  said  to 
violate  the  truth,  are  so  gentle  that  he  must  be  a  very  im- 
practicable subject  indeed  who  is  not  pleased  with  them. 
The  grand  project  of  our  Society,  for  the  good  of  religion,  is 
never  to  repulse  any  one,  let  him  be  what  he  may,  and  so 
avoid  driving  people  to  despair.* 

"  They  have  got  maxims,  therefore,  for  all  sorts  of  per- 
sons ;  for  beneficiaries,  for  priests,  for  monks  ;  for  gentlemen, 
for  servants  ;  for  rich  men,  for  commercial  men  ;  for  people 
in  embarrassed  or  indigent  circumstances  ;  for  devout  women, 
and  women  that  are  not  devout ;  for  married  people,  and 
irregular  people.  In  short,  nothing  has  escaped  their  fore- 
sight." 

"  In  other  words,"  said  I,  "  they  have  got  maxims  for  the 
clergy,  the  nobility,  and  the  commons.f  Well,  I  am  quite 
impatient  to  hear  them." 

"Let  us  commence,"  resumed  the  father,  "  with  the  bene- 
ficiaries. You  are  aware  of  the  traffic  with  benefices  that  is 
now  carried  on,  and  that  were  the  matter  referred  to  St. 
Thomas  and  the  ancients  who  have  written  on  it,  there  might 
chance  to  be  some  simoniacs  in  the  Church.  This  rendered 
it  highly  necessary  for  our  fathers  to  exercise  their  prudence 
in  finding  out  a  palliative.  With  what  success  they  have 
done  so  will  appear  from  the  following  words  of  Valencia, 
who  is  one  of  Escobar's  '  four  living  creatures.'  At  the  end 
of  a  long  discourse,  in  which  he  suggests  various  expedients, 
he  propounds  the  following  at  page  2039,  vol.  iii.,  which,  to 
my  mind,  is  the  best :  '  If  a  person  gives  a  temporal  in  ex- 
change for  a  spiritual  good' — that  is,  if  he  gives  money  for  a 
benefice — '  and  gives  the  money  as  the  price  of  the  benefice, 
it  is  manifest  simony.  But  if  he  gives  it  merely  as  the  mo- 

*  It  has  been  observed,  with  great  truth,  by  Sir  James  Macintosh, 
that  t:  casuistry,  the  inevitable  growth  of  the  practices  of  confession  and 
absolution,  has  generally  vibrated  betwixt  the  extremes  of  impractica- 
ble severity  and  contemptible  indulgence."  (Hist,  of  England,  vol.  ii. 

t  Triers  etat  —  These  were  the  three  orders  into  which  the  people  of 
Prance  were  divided ;  the  tiers  etat  or  third  estate,  corresponding  to  our 


MAXIMS    FOR    PRIESTS.  143 

tive  which  inclines  the  will  of  the  patron  to  confer  on  him  the 
living,  it  is  not  simony,  even  though  the  person  who  confers 
it  considers  and  expects  the  money  as  the  principal  object.' 
Tanner,  who  is  also  a  member  of  our  Society,  affirms  the 
same  thing,  vol.  iii.,  p.  1519,  although  he  'grants  that  St. 
Thomas  is  opposed  to  it ;  for  he  expressly  teaches  that  it  is 
always  simony  to  give  a  spiritual  for  a  temporal  good,  if  the 
temporal  is  the  end  in  view.'  By  this  means  we  prevent  an 
immense  number  of  simoniacal  transactions ;  for  who  would 
3  so  desperately  wicked  as  to  refuse,  when  giving  money 
•r  a  benefice,  to  take  the  simple  precaution  of  so  directing 
his  intentions  as  to  give  it  as  a  motive  to  induce  the  benefic- 
iary to  part  with  it,  instead  of  giving  it  as  the.  price  of  the 
benefice  ?  No  man,  surely,  can  be  so  far  left  to  himself  as 
that  would  come  to." 

"  I  agree  with  you  there,"  I  replied  ;  "  all  men,  I  should 
think,  have  sufficient  grace  to  make  a  bargain  of  that  sort." 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  it,"  returned  the  monk. 
"  Such,  then,  is  the  way  in  which  we  soften  matters  in  re- 
gard to  the  beneficiaries.  And  now  for  the  priests — we  have 
maxims  pretty  favorable  to  them  also.  Take  the  following, 
for  example,  from  our  four-and-twenty  elders  :  '  Can  a  priest, 
who  has  received  money  to  say  a  mass,  take  an  additional 
sum  upon  the  same  mass  ?  Yes,  says  Filiutius,  he  may,  by 
applying  that  part  of  the  sacrifice  which  belongs  to  himself 
as  a  priest  to  the  person  who  paid  him  last ;  provided  he 
does  not  take  a  sum  equivalent  to  a  whole  mass,  but  only  a 
part,  such  as  the  third  of  a  mass.'  " 

"  Surely,  father,"  said  I,  "  this  must  be  one  of  those  cases 
in  which  the  pro  and  the  con  have  both  their  share  of  proba- 
bility. What  you  have  now  stated  cannot  fail,  of  course,  to 
be  probable,  having  the  authority  of  such  men  as  Filiutius 
and  Escobar;  and  yet,  leaving  that  within  the  sphere  of 
probability,  it  strikes  me  that  the  contrary  opinion  might  be 
made  out  to  be  probable  too,  and  might  be  supported  by 
such  reasons  as  the  following  :  That,  while  the  Church  allows 
priests  who  are  in  poor  circumstances  to  take  money  for  their 


144  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

masses,  seeing  it  is  but  right  that  those  who  serve  at  the 
altar  should  live  by  the  a.tar,  she  never  intended  that  they 
should  barter  the  sacrifice  for  money,*  and  still  less,  that 
they  should  deprive  themselves  of  those  benefits  which  they 
ought  themselves,  in  the  first  place,  to  draw  from  it ;  to  which 
I  might  add,  that,  according  to  St.  Paul,  the  priests  are  to 
offer  sacrifice  first  for  themselves,  and  then  for  the  people  ;f 
and  that  accordingly,  while  permitted  to  participate  with 
others  in  the  benefit  of  the  sacrifice,  they  are  not  at  liberty 
to  forego  their  share,  by  transferring  it  to  another  for  a  third 

*  With  all  respect  for  Pascal  and  his  good  intention,  it  is  plain  that 
there  is  a  wide  difference  between  the  duty,  illustrated  by  the  apostle 


from  the  ancient  law,  of  supporting  those  who  minister  in  holy  things 
practice  introduced  by  the  Church 
of  Rome,  of  putting  a  price  on  the  holy  things  themselves.     In  the  one 


, 
in  and  for  their  ministrations,  and  the 


case,  it  was  simply  a  recognition  of  the  general  principle  that  "  the  la- 
borer is  worthy  of  his  hire."  In  the  other,  it  was  converting  the  minis- 
ter into  a  shopman  who  was  allowed  to  "  barter"  his  sacred  wares  at 
the  market  price,  or  any  price  he  pleased.  To  this  mercenary  principle 
most  of  the  superstitions  of  Rome  may  be  traced.  The  popish  doctrine 
of  the  mass  is  founded  on  transubstantiation,  or  the  superstition  broached 
in  the  ninth  century,  that  the  bread  and  wine  are  converted  by  the 
priest  into  the  rep'  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  It  was  never  settled  in 
the  Romish  Church  to  be  a  proper  propitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  living 
and  the  dead  till  the  Council  of  Trent,  in  the  sixteenth  century  ;  so  that 
it  is  comparatively  a  modern  invention.  The  mass  proceeds  on  the  ab- 
surd assumption  that  our  blessed  Lord  offered  up  his  body  and  blood  in 
the  institution  ofthe  supper,  before  offering  them  on  the  cross,  and  par- 
took of  them  himself;  and  it  involves  the  blasphemy  of  supposing  that 
a  sinful  mortal  may,  whenever  he  pleases,  offer  up  the  great  sacrifice 
of  that  body  and  blood,  which  could  only  be  offered  by  the  Son  of  God 
and  offered  by  him  only  once.  This,  however,  is  the  groat  Diana  of 
the  popish  priests—  by  this  craft  they  have  their  wealth  —  and  the  whok 
of  its  history  proves  that  it  was  invented  for  no  other  purposes  than  im- 
posture and  extortion.  f 

•f  Heb.  vii.  '27.  —  It  is  astonishing  to  see  an  acute  mind  like  that  of 
Pascal  so  warped  by  superstition  as  not  to  perceive  that  in  this,  and 
other  allusions  to  the  Levitical  priesthood,  the  object  of  the  apostle  was 
avowedly  to  prove  that  the  great  sacrifice  for  sin.  of  which  the  ancient 
sacrifices  were  the  types,  had  been  "  once  offered  in  the  end  of  the 
world."  and  that  <:  there  remaineth  no  more  sacrifice  for  sins;"  and 
that  the  very  text  to  which  he  refers,  teaches  that,  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ,  our  high  priest,  all  the  functions  of  the  sacrificing  priest- 
hood were  fulfilled  and  terminated  •  "  Who  needeth  not  daily  as  those 
hish  priests,  to  offer  up  sacrifice,  first  for  his  own  sins,  and  then  for 
the  people's  :  for  this  he  did  once,  when  he  offered  up  himself."  The 
ministers  of  the  New  Testament  are  never  in  Scripture  called  priests, 
though  this  name  has  been  applied  to  the  Christian  people  who  offer  up 
the  "  spiritual  sacrifices"  of  praiss  and  good  works.  (Heb.  xiii.  15,  16  ; 
1  Pet.  Si.  5.) 


MAXIMS    FOR    PRIESTS.  1*5 

of  a  mass,  or,  in  other  words,  for  the  matter  of  fourpence  or 
fivepence.  Verily,  father,  little  as  I  pretend  to  be  a  grave 
man,  I  might  contrive  to  make  this  opinion  probable." 

"  It  would  cost  you  no  great  pains  to  do  that,"  replied  the 
monk  :  "it  is  visibly  probable  already.  The  difficulty  lies  in 
discovering  probability  in  the  converse  of  opinions  manifestly 
good  ;  and  this  is  a  feat  which  none  but  great  men  can 
achieve.  Father  Bauny  shines  in  this  department.  It  is 
really  delightful  to  see  that  learned  casuist  examining  with 
characteristic  ingenuity  and  subtlety,  the  negative  and  affir- 
mative of  the  same  question,  and  proving  both  of  them  to  be 
right  !  Thus  in  the  matter  of  priests,  he  says  in  one  place  : 
'  No  law  can  be  made  to  oblige  the  curates  to  say  mass  every 
day  ;  for  such  a  law  would  unquestionably  (hand  dubie)  ex- 
pose them  to  the  danger  of  saying  it  sometimes  in  mortal 
sin.'  And  yet  in  another  part  of  the  same  treatise,  he  says, 
'  that  priests  who  have  received  money  for  saying  mass  every 
day  ought  to  say  it  every  day,  and  that  they  cannot  excuse 
themselves  on  the  ground  that  they  are  not  always  in  a  fit 
state  for  the  service  ;  because  it  is  in  their  power  at  all  times 
to  do  penance,  and  if  they  neglect  this  they  have  themselves 
to  blame  for  it,  and  not  the  person  who  made  them  say 
mass.'  And  to  relieve  their  minds  from  all  scruples  on  the 
subject,  he  thus  resolves  the  question  :  '  May  a  priest  say 
mass  on  the  same  day  in  which  he  has  committed  a  mortal 
sin  of  the  worst  kind,  in  the  way  of  confessing  himself  before- 
hand ?'  Villabolos  says  No,  because  of  his  impurity ;  but 
Sancius  says,  He  may  without  any  sin  ;  and  I  hold  his  opin- 
ion to  be  safe,  and  one  which  may  be  followed  in  practice — 
et  tnta  et  sequenda  in  praxi."  * 

"  Follow  this  opinion  in  practice !"  cried  I.  "  Will  any 
priest  who  has  fallen  into  such  irregularities,  have  the  assur- 
ance on  the  same  day  to  approach  the  altar,  on  the  mere 
word  of  Father  Bauny  ?  Is  he  not  bound  to  submit  to  the 
ancient  laws  of  the  Church,  which  debarred  from  the  sacrifice 

*  Treatise  10  p.  474 ;  ib  ,  p.  441 ;  Quest.  32,  p.  457. 


146  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

forever,  or  at  least  for  a  long  lime,  priests  who  hnd  commit- 
ted sins  of  that  description — instead  of  following  the  modem 
opinions  of  casuists,  who  would  admit  him  to  it  on  the  very 
day  that  Avitnessed  his  fall  ?" 

"  You  have  a  very  short  memory,"  returned  the  monk. 
"  Did  I  not  inform  you  a  little  ago  that,  according  to  our  fa- 
thers Cellot  and  Reginald,  '  in  matters  of  morality  we  are  to 
follow,  not  the  ancient  fathers,  but  the  modern  casuists  ?'  " 

"I  remember  it  perfectly,"  said  I ;  "but  we  have  some- 
thing more  here :  we  have  the  laws  of  the  Church." 

"True,"  he  replied ;  " but  this  shows  you  do  not  know  an- 
other capital  maxim  of  our  fathers,  •*  that  the  laws  of  the 
Church  lose  their  authority  when  they  have  gone  into  desue- 
tude— cumjamdesuctudineabicrunt — as  Filiutus  says.*  We 
know  the  present  exigencies  of  the  Church  much  better  than 
the  ancients  could  do.  Were  we  to  be  so  strict  in  excluding 
priests  from  the  altar,  you  can  understand  there  would  not  be 
such  a  great  number  of  masses.  Now  a  multitude  of  masses 
brings  such  a  revenue  of  glory  to  God  and  of  good  to  souls, 
that  I  may  venture  to  say,  with  Father  Cellot,  that  there 
would  not  be  too  many  priests,  '  though  not  only  all  men 
and  women,  were  that  possible,  but  even  inanimate  bodies, 
and  even  brute  beasts — bruta  animalia — were  transformed 
into  priests  to  celebrate  mass.'  "f 

I  was  so  astounded  at  the  -extravagance  of  this  imagina- 
tion, that  I  could  not  utter  a  word,  and  allowed  him  to  go  on 
with  his  discourse.  "  Enough,  however,  about  priests ;  I  am 
afraid  of  getting  tedious:  let  us  come  to  the  monks.  The 
grand  difficulty  with  them  is  the  obedience  they  owe  to  their 
superiors ;  now  observe  the  palliative  which  our  fathers  apply 
in  this  case.  Castro  PalaoJ  of  our  Society  has  said  :  '  Beyond 
all  dispute,  a  monk  who  has  a  probable  opinion  of  his  own,  is 

.  *  Torn.  ii.  tr.  25.  n.  33.  And  yet  they  will  pretend  to  hold  that  their 
Church  is  infallible  ! 

t  Book  of  the  Hierarchy,  p.  611,  Rouen  edition. 

$  Op.  Mor.  p.  1,  disp,  2,  p.  6.  Ferdinand  de  Castro  Palao  was  a 
Jesuit  of  Spain,  and  author  of  a  work  on  Virtues  and  Vices,  published 
in  1631, 


MAXIMS    FOR    SERVANTS.  147 

not  bound  to  obe~his  superior,  thougli  the  opinion  of  the 
latter  is  the  more  probable.  For  the  monk  is  at  liberty  to 
adopt  the  opinion  which  is  more  agreeable  to  himself — qucs 
sibi  gratior  fuerit — as  Sanchez  says.  And  though  the  order 
of  his  superior  be  just,  that  does  not  oblige  you  to  obey  him, 
for  it  is  not  just  at  all  points  or  in  every  respect — non  unde- 
quaque  jusl£  prcecepit — but  only  probably  so ;  and  conse- 
quently, you  are  only  probably  bound  to  obey  him,  and  prob- 
ably not  bound — probabiliter  obliyatus,  et  probabiliter  deobli- 
gatus.'  " 

"  Certainly,  father,"  said  I,  "  it  is  impossible  too  highly  to 
estimate  this  precious  fruit  of  the  double  probability." 

"It  is  of  great  use  indeed,"  he  replied ;  "but  we  must  be 
brief.  Let  me  only  give  you  the  following  specimen  of  our 
famous  Molina  in  favor  of  monks  who  are  expelled  from  their 
convents  for  irregularities.  Escobar  quotes  him  thus :  '  Mo- 
lina asserts  that  a  monk  expelled  from  his  monastery  is  not 
obliged  to  reform  in  order  to  get  back  again,  and  that  he  is 
no  longer  bound  by  his  vow  of  obedience.'  " 

"  Well,  father,"  cried  I,  "  this  is  all  very  comfortable  for 
the  clergy.  Your  casuists,  I  perceive,  have  been  very  indul. 
gent  to  them,  and  no  wonder — they  were  legislating,  so  to 
speak,  for  themselves.  I  am  afraid  people  of  other  condi- 
tions are  not  so  liberally  treated.  Every  one  for  himself  in 
this  world." 

"There  you  do  us  wrong,"  returned  the  monk;  "they 
could  not  have  been  kinder  to  themselves  than  we  have  been 
to  them.  We  treat  all,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  with 
an  even-handed  charity,  sir.  And  to  prove  this,  you  tempt 
me  to  tell  you  our  maxims  for  servants.  In  reference  to  this 
class,  we  have  taken  into  consideration  the  difficulty  they 
must  experience,  when  they  are  men  of  conscience,  in  serving 
profligate  masters.  For  if  they  refuse  to  perform  all  the  er- 
rands in  which  they  are  employed,  they  lose  their  places;  and 
if  they  yield  obedience,  they  have  their  scruples.  To  relieve 
them  from  these,  our  four-and-twenty  fathers  have  specified 
the  services  which  they  may  render  with  a  safe  conscience ; 


148  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

such  as,  'carrying  letters  and  presents,  opening  doors  and 
windows,  helping  their  master  to  reach  the  window,  holding 
the  ladder  which  he  is  mounting.  All  this,'  say  they,  '  is  al- 
lowahle  and  indifferent ;  it  is  true  that,  as  to  holding  the  lad- 
der, they  must  be  threatened,  more  than  usually,  with  being 
punished  for  refusing ;  for  it  is  doing  an  injury  to  the  master 
of  a  house  to  enter  it  by  the  window.'  You  perceive  the 
judiciousness  of  that  observation,  of  course?" 

"  I  expected  nothing  less,"  said  I,  "  from  a  book  edited  by 
four-and-twenty  Jesuits." 

"But,"  added  the  monk,  "Father  Bauny  has  gone  beyond 
this ;  he  has  taught  valets  how  to  perform  these  sorts  of 
offices  for  their  masters  quite  innocently,  by  making  them 
direct  their  intention,  not  to  the  sins  to  which  they  are  acces- 
sary, but  to  the  gain  which  is  to  accrue  from  them.  In  his 
Summary  of  Sins,  p.  710,  first  edition,  he  thus  states  the 
matter  :  '  Let  confessors  observe,'  says  he,  '  that  they  cannot 
absolve  valets  who  perform  base  errands,  if  they  consent  to 
the  sins  of  their  masters  ;  but  the  reverse  holds  true,  if  they 
have  done  the  thing  merely  from  a  regard  to  their  temporal 
emolument.'  And  that,  I  should  conceive,  is  no  difficult  mat- 
ter to  do  ;  for  why  should  they  insist  on  consenting  to  sins  of 
which  they  taste  nothing  but  the  trouble  ?  The  same  Father 
Bauny  has  established  a  prime  maxim  in  favor  of  those  who 
are  not  content  with  their  wages  :  '  May  servants  who  are  dis- 
satisfied with  their  wages,  use  means  to  raise  them  by  laying 
their  hands  on  as  much  of  the  property  of  their  masters  as 
they  may  consider  necessary  to  make  the  said  wages  equiva- 
lent to  their  trouble  ?  They  may,  in  certain  circumstances  ; 
as  when  they  are  so  poor  that,  in  looking  for  a  situation,  they 
have  been  obliged  to  accept  the  offer  made  to  them,  and  when 
other  servants  of  the  same  class  are  gaining  more  than  they, 
elsewhere.' " 

"  Ha,  father ,"  cried  I,  "  that  is  John  d'Alba's  passage,  I 
declare." 

"What  Joh>  1'Alba  ?"  inquired  the  father  "what  do  you 
mean  ?". 


STORY    OF    JOIIN    D  ALBA.  149 

" Strange,  father !"  returned  I :  "do  you  not  remember 
what  happened  in  this  city  in  the  year  1647  ?  Where  in  the 
world  were  you  living  at  that  time  ?" 

"  I  was  teaching  cases  of  conscience  in  one  of  our  colleges 
far  from  Paris,"  he  replied. 

"  I  see  you  don't  know  the  story,  father :  I  must  tell  it 
you.  I  heard  it  related  the  other  day  by  a  man  of  honor, 
whom  I  met  in  company.  He  told  us  that  this  John  d'Alba, 
who  was  in  the  service  of  your  fathers  in  the  College  of  Cler- 
mont,  in  the  Rue  St.  Jacques,  being  dissatisfied  with  his  wa- 
ges, had  purloined  something  to  make  himself  amends  ;  and 
that  your  fathers,  on  discovering  the  theft,  had  thrown  him 
into  prison  on  the  charge  of  larceny.  The  case  was  reported 
to  the  court,  if  I  recollect  right,  on  the  16th  of  April,  1647  ; 
for  he  was  very  minute  in  his  statements,  and  indeed  they 
would  hardly  have  been  credible  otherwise.  The  poor  fel- 
low, on  being  questioned,  confessed  to  having  taken  some 
pewter  plates,  but  maintained  that  for  all  that  he  had  not 
stolen  them;  pleading  in  his  defence  this  very  doctrine  of  Fa- 
ther Bauny,  which  he  produced  before  the  judges,  along  with 
a  pamphlet  by  one  of  your  fathers,  under  whom  he  had  stud- 
ied cases  of  conscience,  and  who  had  taught  him  the  same 
thing.  Whereupon  M.  De  Montrouge,  one  of  the  most  re- 
spected members  of  the  court,  said,  in  giving  his  opinion, 
'that  he  did  not  see  how,  on  the  ground  of  the  writings  of 
these  fathers — writings  containing  a  doctrine  so  illegal,  per- 
nicious, and  contrary  to  all  laws,  natural,  divine,  and  human, 
and  calculated  to  ruin  all  families,  and  sanction  all  sorts  of 
household  robbery — they  could  discharge  the  accused.  But 
his  opinion  was,  that  this  too  faithful  disciple  should  be 
whipped  before  the  college  gate,  by  the  hand  of  the  common 
hangman  ;  and  that,  at  the  same  time,  this  functionary  should 
burn  the  writings  of  these  fathers  which  treated  of  larceny, 
with  certification  that  they  were  prohibited  from  teaching 
such  doctrine  in  future,  upon  pain  of  death.' 

"  The  result  of  this  judgment,  which  was  heartily  approved 
of,  was  waited  for  with  much  curiosit}  when  some  incident 


150  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

occurred  which  made  them  delay  procedure.  But  in  the 
mean  time  the  prisoner  disappeared,  nobody  knew  how,  and 
nothing  more  was  heard  about  the  affair ;  so  that  John  d'Alba 
got  off,  pewter  plates  and  all.  Such  was  the  account. he 
gave  us,  to  which  he  added,  that  the  judgment  of  M.  De 
Montrouge  was  entered  on  the  records  of  the  court,  where 
any  one  may  consult  it.  We  were  highly  amused  at  the 
story." 

"What  are  you  trifling  about  now.?"  cried  the  monk. 
"What  does  all  that  signify?  I  was  explaining  the  maxims 
of  our  casuists,  and  was  just  going  to  speak  of  those  relating 
to  gentlemen,  when  you  interrupt  me  with  impertinent 
stories." 

"  It  was  only  something  put  in  by  the  way,  father,"  I  ob- 
served ;  "  and  besides,  I  was  anxious  to  apprize  you  of  an  im- 
portant circumstance,  which  I  find  you  have  overlooked  in 
establishing  your  doctrine  of  probability." 

"  Ay,  indeed  !"  exclaimed  the  monk,  "  what  defect  can 
this  be,  that  has  escaped  the  notice  of  so  many  ingenious 
men  ?" 

"  You  have  certainly,"  continued  I,  "  contrived  to  place  your 
disciples  in  perfect  safety  so  far  as  God  and  the  conscience  are 
concerned  ;  for  they  are  quite  safe  in  that  quarter,  according 
to  you,  by  following  in  the  wake  of  a  grave  doctor.  You  have 
also  secured  them  on  the  part  of  the  confessors,  by  obliging 
priests,  on  the  pain  of  mortal  sin,  to  absolve  all  who  follow  a 
probable  opinion.  But  you  have  neglected  to  secure  them 
on  the  part  of  the  judges ;  so  that,  in  following  your  proba- 
bilities, they  are  in  danger  of  coming  into  contact  with  the 
whip  and  the  gallows.  This  is  a  sad  oversight." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  the  monk ;  "  I  am  glad  you  men- 
tioned it.  But  the  reason  is,  we  have  no  such  power  over 
magistrates  as  over  the  confessors,  who  are  obliged  to  refer 
to  us  in  cases  of  conscience,  in  which  we  are  the  sovereign 
judges." 

"  So  I  understand,"  returned  I ;  "  but  if,  on  the  one  hand, 
you  are  the  judges  of  the  confessors,  are  you  not,  on  the 


8TORY    OF   JOHN    o'ALBA.  151 

other  hand,  the  confessors  of  the  judges?  Your  power  is 
very  extensive.  Oblige  them,  on  pain  of  being  debarred 
from  the  sacraments,  to  acquit  all  criminals  who  act  on  a 
probable  opinion ;  otherwise  it  may  happen,  to  the  great 
contempt  and  scandal  of  probability,  that  those  whom  you 
render  innocent  in  theory  may  be  whipped  or  hanged  in 
practice.  Without  something  of  this  kind,  how  can  you 
expect  to  get  disciples  ?" 

"The  matter  deserves  consideration,"  said  he;  "it  will 
never  do  to  neglect  it.  I  shall  suggest  it  to  our  father  Pro- 
vincial. You  might,  however,  have  reserved  this  advice  to 
some  other  time,  without  interrupting  the  account  I  was 
about  to  give  you  of  the  maxims  which  we  have  established 
in  favor  of  gentlemen ;  and  I  shall  not  give  you  any  more  in- 
formation, except  on  condition  that  you  do  not  tell  me  any 
more  stories." 

This  is  all  you  shall  have  from  me  at  present ;  for  it  would 
require  more  'than  the  limits  of  one  letter  to  acquaint  you 
with  all  that  I  learned  in  a  single  conversation. — Meanwhile 
I  am,  &c. 


LETTER  VII.* 

METHOD   OF   DIRECTING   THE   INTENTION   ADOPTED   BY  THE  CASUISTS 

PERMISSION   TO  KILL   IN    DEFENCE    OF    HONOR   AND    PROPERTY, 

EXTENDED    EVEN    TO    PRIESTS    AND    MONKS CURIOUS    QUESTION 

RAISED   EY   CARAMUEL,  AS    TO   WHETHER   JESUITS    MAY    BE    AL- 
LOWED  TO   KILL  JANSENISTS. 

PARIS,  April  25,  1656. 

SIR, — Having  succeeded  in  pacifying  the  good  father,  who 
had  been  rather  disconcerted  by  the  story  of  John  d'Alba, 
he  resumed  the  conversation,  on  my  assuring  him  that  I 
would  avoid  all  such  interruptions  in  future,  and  spoke  of 
the  maxims  of  his  casuists  with  regard  to  gentlemen,  nearly 
in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  You  know,"  he  said,  "  that  the  ruling  passion  of  persons 
in  that  rank  of  life  is  '  the  point  of  honor/  which  is  perpetu- 
ally driving  them  into  acts  of  violence  apparently  quite  at 
variance  with  Christian  piety  ;  so  that,  in  fact,  they  would  be 
almost  all  of  them  excluded  from  our  confessionals,  had  not 
our  fathers  relaxed  a  little  from  the  strictness  of  religion,  to 
accommodate  themselves  to  the  weakness  of  humanity. 
Anxious  to  keep  on  good  terms  both  with  the  Gospel,  by  doing 
their  duty  to  God,  and  with  the  men  of  the  world,  by  show- 
ing chanty  to  their  neighbor,  they  needed  all  the  wisdom 
they  possessed  to  devise  expedients  for  so  nicely  adjusting 
matters  as  to  permit  these  gentlemen  to  adopt  the  methods 
usually  resorted  to  for  vindicating  their  honor,  without 
wounding  their  consciences,  and  thus  reconcile  two  things 
apparently  so  opposite  to  each  other  as  piety  and  the  point 
of  honor.  But,  sir,  in  proportion  to  the  utility  of  the  design 
was  the  difficulty  of  the  execution.  You  cannot  fail,  I  should 

*  Tliis  Letter  was  revised  by  M.  Nicole. 


DIRECTING    THE    INTENTION.  153 

think,  to  realize  the  magnitude  and  arduousness  of  such  an 
enterprize  ?" 

"  It  astonishes  me,  certainly,"  said  I,  rather  coldly. 

"  It  astonishes  you,  forsooth  !"  cried  the  monk.  "  I  can 
well  believe  that ;  many  besides  you  might  be  astonished  at 
it.  Why,  don't  you  know  that,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Gos- 
pel commands  us  '  not  to  render  evil  for  evil,  but  to  leave 
vengeance  to  God  ;'  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  laws  of 
the  world  forbid  our  enduring  an  affront  without  demanding 
satisfaction  from  the  offender,  and  that  often  at  the  expense 
of  his  life  ?  You  have  never,  I  am  sure,  met  with  anything, 
to  all  appearance,  more  diametrically  opposed  than  these  two 
codes  of  morals ;  and  yet,  when  told  that  our  fathers  have 
reconciled  them,  you  have  nothing  more  to  say  than  simply 
that  this  astonishes  you  !" 

"  I  did  not  sufficiently  explain  myself,  father.  I  should 
certainly  have  considered  the  thing  perfectly  impracticable, 
if  I  had  not  known,  from  what  I  have  seen  of  your  fathers, 
that  they  are  capable  of  doing  with  ease  what  is  impossible 
to  other  men.  This  led  me  to  anticipate  that  they  must  have 
discovered  some  method  for  meeting  the  difficulty — a  method 
which  I  admire  even  before  knowing  it,  and  which  I  pray 
you  to  explain  to  me." 

"  Since  that  is  your  view  of  the  matter,"  replied  the  monk, 
"I  cannot  refuse  you.  Know,  then,  that  this  marvellous 
principle  is  our  grand  method  of  directing  the  intention- — the 
importance  of  which,  in  our  moral  system,  is  such,  that  I 
might  almost  venture  to  compare  it  with  the  doctrine  of 
probability.  You  have  had  some  glimpses  of  it  in  passing, 
from  certain  maxims  which  I  mentioned  to  you.  For  exam- 
ple, when  I  was  showing  you  how  servants  might  execute 
certain  troublesome  jobs  with  a  safe  conscience,  did  you  not 
remark  that  it  was  simply  by  diverting  their  intention  from 
the  evil  to  which  they  were  accessary,  to  the  profit  which 
they  might  reap  from  the  transaction  ?  Now  that  is  what 
we  call  directing  the  intention.  You  saw,  too,  that  were  it 
not  for  a  similar  divergence  of  the  mind,  those  who  give 
7* 


154  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

money  for  benefices  might  be  downright  simoniacs.  But  I 
•will  now  show  you  this  grand  method  in  all  its  glory,  as  it 
applies  to  the  subject  of  homicide — a  crime  which  it  justifies  in 
a  thousand  instances ;  in  order  that,  from  this  startling  re- 
sult, you  may  form  an  idea  of  all  that  it  is  calculated  to 
eifect." 

"  I  foresee  already,"  said  I,  "  that,  according  to  this  mode, 
everything  will  be  permitted;  it  will  stick  at  nothing." 

"You  always  fly  from  the  one  extreme  tc  the  other,"  re- 
plied the  monk:  "prithee  arvoid  that  habit.  For  just  to  show 
you  that  we  are  far  from  permitting  everything,  let  me  tell 
you  that  we  never  suffer  such  a  thing  as  a  formal  intention 
to  sin,  with  the  sole  design  of  sinning ;  and  if  any  person 
whatever  should  persist  in  having  no  other  end  but  evil  in 
the  evil  that  he  does,  we  break  with  him  at  once :  such  con- 
duct is  diabolical.  This  holds  true,  without  exception  of  age, 
sex,  or  rank.  But  when  the  person  is  not  of  such  a  wretched 
disposition  as  this,  we  try  to  put  in  practice  our  method  of 
directing  the  intention,  winch  simply  consists  in  his  proposing 
to  himsejf,  as  the  end  of  his  actions,  some  allowable  object. 
Not  that  we  do  not  endeavor,  as  far  as  we  can,  to  dissuade 
men  from  doing  things  forbidden  ;  but  when  we  cannot  pre- 
•"vent  the  action,  we  at  least  purify  the  motive,  and  thus  cor- 
rect the  viciousness  of  the  mean  by  the  goodness  of  the  end. 
Such  is  the  way  in  which  our  fathers  have  contrived  to  per- 
mit those  acts  of  violence  to  which  men  usually  resort  in 
vindication  of  their  honor.  They  have  no  more  to  do  than 
to  turn  off  their  intention  from  the  desire  of  vengeance, 
which  is  criminal,  and  direct  it  to  a  desire  to  defend  their 
honor,  which,  according  to  us,  is  quite  warrantable.  And  in 
this  way  our  doctors  discharge  all  their  duty  towards  God 
and  towards  man.  By  permitting  the  action,  they  gratify 
the  world  ;  and  by  purifying  the  intention,  they  give  satisfac- 
tion to  the  Gospel.  This  is  a  secret,  sir,  which  was  entirely 
unknown  to  the  ancients ;  the  world  is  indebted  for  the  dis- 
covery entirely  to  our  doctors.  You  understand  it  now,  I 
hope?" 


PRIVATE    REVENGE    PERMITTED.  155 

"Perfectly  well,"  was  my  reply.  "To  men  you  grant 
the  outward  material  effect  of  the  action ;  and  to  God  you 
give  the  inward  and  spiritual  movement  of  the  intention ; 
and  by  this  equitable  partition,  you  form  an  alliance  between 
the  laws  of  God  and  the  laws  of  men.  But,  ray  dear  sir,  to 
be  frank  with  you,  I  can  hardly  trust  your  premises,  and  I 
suspect  that  your  authors  will  tell  another  tale." 

"You  do  me  injustice,"  rejoined  the  monk;  "I  advance 
nothing  but  what  I  am  ready  to  prove,  and  that  by  such  a 
rich  array  of  passages,  that  altogether  their  number,  their 
authority,  and  their  reasonings,  will  fill  you  with  admiration. 
To  show  you,  for  example,  the  alliance  which  our  fathers 
have  formed  between  the  maxims  of  the  Gospel  and  those  of 
the  world,  by  thus  regulating  the  intention,  let  me  refer  you 
to  Reginald:*  'Private  persons  are  forbidden  to  avenge 
themselves;  for  St.  Paul  says  to  the  Romans  (ch.  12th), 
'Recompense  to  no  man  evil  for  evil ;'  and  Ecclesiasticus  says 
(ch.  28th),  'He  that  taketh  vengeance  shall  draw  on  him- 
self the  vengeance  of  God,  and  his  sins  will  not  be  forgotten/ 
Besides  all  that  is  said  in  the  Gospel  about  forgiving  offences, 
as  in  the  6th  and  18th  chapters  of  St.  Matthew.'" 

"Well,  father,  if  after  that  he  says  anything  contrary  to 
the  Scripture,  it  will  not  be  from  lack  of  scriptural  knowl- 
edge, at  any  rate.  Pray,  how  does  he  conclude  ?" 

"  You  shall  hear,"  he  said.  "From  all  this  it  appears  that 
a  military  man  may  demand  satisfaction  on  the  spot  from  the 
person  who  has  injured  him — not,  indeed,  with  the  intention 
of  rendering  evil  for  evil,  but  with  that  of  preserving  his 
honor — '  non  ut  malum  pro  malo  reddat,  sed  ut  conservet  hono- 
rem.'  See  you  how  carefully  they  guard  against  the  inten- 
tion of  rendering  evil  for  evil,  because  the  Scripture  con- 
demns it  ?  This  is  what  they  will  tolerate  on  no  account. 
Thus  Lessiusf  observes,  that  '  if  a  man  has  received  a  blow 
on  the  face,  he  must  on  no  account  have  an  intention  to 
avenge  himself;  but  he  may  lawfully  have  an  intention  to 

*  In  praxi :  liv.  xxi.,  num.  62,  p.  260, 
t  De  Just,  liv.  ii.,  c.  9,  d.  12,  n.  79. 


156  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

avert  infamy,  and  may,  with  that  vie\v,  repel  the  insult  im- 
mediately, even  at  the  point  of  the  sword — etiam  cum  gladioT 
So  far  are  we  from  permitting  any  one  to  cherish  the  design 
of  taking  vengeance  on  his  enemies,  that  our  fathers  will  not 
allow  any  even  to  wish  their  death — by  a  movement  of  hatred. 
'  If  your  enemy  is  disposed  to  injure  you,'  says  Escobar,  'you 
have  no  right  to  wish  his  death,  by  a  movement  of  hatred  ; 
though  you  may,  with  a  view  to  save  yourself  from  harm.' 
So  legitimate,  indeed,  is  this  wish,  with  such  an  intention, 
that  our  great  Hurtado  de  Mfendoza  says,  that  '  we  may  pray 
God  to  visit  with  speedy  death  those  who  are  bent  on  per- 
secuting us,  if  there  is  no  other  way  of  escaping  from  it.'  "* 

"May  it  please  your  reverence,"  said  I,  "the  Church 
has  forgotten  to  insert  a  petition  to  that  effect  among  her 
prayers." 

"  They  have  not  put  in  everything  into  the  prayers  that 
one  may  lawfully  ask  of  God,"  answered  the  monk.  "  Be- 
sides, in  the  present  case  the  thing  was  impossible,  for  this 
same  opinion  is  of  more  recent  standing  than  the  Breviary. 
You  are  not  a  good  chronologist,  friend.  But,  not  to  wander 
from  the  point,  let  me  request  your  attention  to  .the  follow- 
ing passage,  cited  by  Diana  from  Gaspar  Hurtado,f  one  of 
Escobar's  four-and-twenty  fathers :  '  An  incumbent  may, 
without  any  mortal  sin,  desire  the  decease  of  a  life-renter 
on  his  benefice,  and  a  son  that  of  his  father,  and  rejoice 
when  it  happens ;  provided  always  it  is  for  the  sake  of  the 
profit  that  is  to  accrue  from  the  event,  and  not  from  personal 
aversion.'  " 

"  Good  !"  cried  I.  "  That  is  certainly  a  very  happy  hit  ; 
and  I  can  easily  see  that  the  doctrine  admits  of  a  wide  appli- 
cation. But  yet  there  are  certain  cases,  the  solution  of  which, 
though  of  great  importance  for  gentlemen,  might  present 
still  greater  difficulties." 

"  Propose  them,  if  you  please,  that  we  may  see,"  said  the 
monk. 

*  In  his  book,  De  Spe,  vol.  ii.,  d.  15,  sec.  4,  848. 
t  De  Sub.  Pecc.,  diff.  9;  Diana,  p.  5;   tr.  14,  r.  99. 


DUELLING    PERMITTED.  157 

"  Show  me,  with  all  your  directing  of  the  intention,"  re- 
turned I,  "that  it  is  allowable  to  fight  a  duel." 

"  Our  great  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,"  said  the  father,  "  will 
satisfy  you  on  that  point  in  a  twinkling.  '  If  a  gentleman,' 
says  he,  iu  a  passage  cited  by  Diana,  '  who  is  challenged  to 
fight  a  duel,  is  well  known  to  have  no  religion,  and  if  the 
vices  to  which  he  is  openly  and  unscrupulously  addicted  are 
such  as  would  lead  people  to  conclude,  in  the  event  of  his 
refusing  to  fight,  that  he  is  actuated,  not  by  the  fear  of  God, 
but  by  cowardice,  and  induce  them  to  say  of  him  that  he 
was  a  hen,  and  not  a  man — gallina,  et  non  vir  ;  in  that  case 
he  may,  to  save  his  honor,  appear  at  the  appointed  spot — 
not,  indeed,  with  the  express  intention  of  fighting  a  duel, 
but  merely  with  that  of  defending  himself,  should  the  per- 
son who  challenged  him  come  there  unjustly  to  attack  him. 
His  action  in  this  case,  viewed  by  itself,  will  be  perfectly 
indifferent ;  for  what  moral  evil  is  there  in  one  stepping 
into  a  field,  taking  a  stroll  in  expectation  of  meeting  a  per- 
son, and  defending  one's  self  in  the  event  of  being  attacked  ? 
And  thus  the  gentleman  is  guilty  of  no  sin  whatever ;  for 
in  fact  it  cannot  be  called  accepting  a  challenge  at  all,  his 
intention  being  directed  to  other  circumstances,  and  the 
acceptance  of  a  challenge  consisting  in  an  express  intention 
to  fight,  which  we  are  supposing  the  gentleman  never  had.' " 

"  You  have  not  kept  your  word  with  me,  sir,"  said  T. 
"  This  is  not,  properly  speaking,  to  permit  duelling  ;  on  the 
contrary,  the  casuist  is  so  persuaded  that  this  practice  is  for- 
bidden, that,  in  licensing  the  action  in  question,  he  carefully 
avoids  calling  it  a  duel." 

"  Ah !"  cried  the  monk,  "  you  begin  to  get  knowing  on 
my  hand,  I  am  glad  to  see.  I  might  reply,  that  the  author 
I  have  quoted  grants  all  that  duellists  are  disposed  to  ask. 
But  since  you  must  have  a  categorical  answer,  I  shall  allow 
our  Father  Layman  to  give  it  for  me.  He  permits  duelling 
in  so  many  words,  provided  that,  in  accepting  the  challenge, 
the  person  directs  his  intention  solely  to  the  preservation 
of  his  honor  or  his  property :  '  If  a  soldier  or  a  courtier  is 


158  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

in  such  a  predicament  that  he  must  lose  either  his  honor  or 
his  fortune  unless  he  accepts  a  challenge,  I  see  nothing  to 
hinder  him  from  doing  so  i»  self-defence.'  The  same  thing 
is  said  by  Peter  Hurtado,  as  quoted  by  our  famous  Escobar ; 
his  words  are :  '  One  may  fight  a  duel  even  to  defend  one's 
property,  should  that  be  necessary  ;  because  every  man  has 
a  right  to  defend  his  property,  though  at  the  expense  of  his 
enemy's  life !'  " 

I  was  struck,  on  hearing  these  passages,  with  the  reflec- 
tion that  while  the  piety  of  the  king  appears  in  his  exerting 
all  his  power  to  prohibit  and  abolish  the  practice  of  duelling 
in  the  State,*  the  piety  of  the  Jesuits  is  shown  in  their  e*m- 
ploying  all  their  ingenuity  to  tolerate  and  sanction  it  in  the 
Church.  But  the  good  father  was  in  such  an  excellent  key 
for  talking,  that  it  would  have  been  cruel  to  have  interrupted 
him ;  so  he  went  on  with  his  discourse. 

"  In  short,"  said  he,  "  Sanchez  (mark,  now,  what  great 
names  I  am  quoting  to  you !)  Sanchez,  sir,  goes  a  step  further ; 
for  he  shows  how,  simply  by  managing  the  intention  rightly, 
a  person  may  not  only  receive  a  challenge,  but  give  one. 
And  our  Escobar  follows  him." 

"  Prove  that,  father,"  said  I,  "  and  I  shall  give  up  the 
point :  but  I  will  not  believe  that  he  has  written  it,  unless  I 
see  it  in  print." 

"  Read  it  yourself,  then,"  he  replied :  and,  to  be  sure,  I 
read  the  following  extract  from  the  Moral  Theology  of 
Sanchez :  "  It  is  perfectly  reasonable  to  hold  that  a  man  may 
fight  a  duel  to  save  his  life,  his  honor,  or  any  considerable 

*  Before  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.  the  practice  of  duelling  prevailed  in 
France  to  such  a. frightful  extent  that  a  writer,  who  is  not  given  to  ex- 
aggerate in  such  matters,  says,  that  •'  It  had  done  as  much  to  depopu- 
late the  country  as  the  civil  and  foreign  wars,  and  that  in  the  course  of 
twenty  years,  ten  of  which  had  been  disturbed  by  war.  more  French- 
men perished  by  the  hands  of  Frenchmen  than  by  those  of  their  enemies. 
(Voltaire.  Sisde  de  Louis  XIV.,  p  42.)  The  abolition  of  this  barba- 
rous custom  was  one  of  I  he  greatest  services  which  Louis  XIV.  rendered 
to  his  country.  This  \va.a  not  fully  accomplished  till  1G33,  when  a 
bloody  combat  of  four  against  four  determined  him  to  put  an  end  to  the 
practice,  by  making  it  death,  without  benefit  of  clergy,  to  send  or  accept 
a  challenge. 


ASSASSINATION    PERMITTED.  159 

portion  of  his  property,  "when  it  is  apparent  that  there  is  a 
design  to  deprive  him  of  these  unjustly,  by  law-suits  and 
chicanery,  and  when  there  is  no  other  way  of  preserving  I  hem. 
Navarre  justly  observes,  that  in  such  cases,  it  is  lawful 
either  to  accept  or  to  send  a  challenge — licet  acceptors  et 
offerre  duellum.  The  same  author  adds,  that  there  is  nothing 
to  prevent  one  from  despatching  one's  adversary  in  a  private 
way.  Indeed,  in  the  circumstances  referred  to,  it  is  advisa- 
ble to  avoid  employing  the  method  of  the  duel,  if  it  is  possi- 
ble to  settle  the  affair  by  privately  killing  our  enemy ;  for, 
by  this  means,  we  escape  .at  once  from  exposing  our  life  in 
the  combat,  and  from  participating  in  the  sin  which  our  op- 
ponent would  have  committed  by  fighting  the  duel  !"* 

"  A  most  pious  assassination  !"  said  I.  "  Still,  however, 
pious  though  it  be,  it  is  assassination,  if  a  man  is  permitted  to 
kill  his  enemy  in  a  treacherous  manner." 

"Did  I  say  that  he  might  kill  him  treacherously?"  cried 
the  monk.  "  God  forbid  !  I  said  he  might  kill  him  privately, 
and  you  conclude  that  he  may  kill  him  treacherously,  as  if 
that  were  the  same  thing !  Attend,  sir,  to  Escobar's  defini- 
tion before  allowing  yourself  to  speak  again  on  this  subject 
'  We  call  it  killing  in  treachery,  when  the  person  who  is  slain 
had  no  reason  to  suspect  such  a  fate.  He,  therefore,  that 
slays  his  enemy  cannot  be  said  to  kill  him  in  treachery,  even 
although  the  blow  should  be  given  insidiously  and  behind  his 
back — licet  per  insidias  aut  a  tergo  percutiat.'  And  again  : 
'  He  that  kills  his  enemy,  with  whom  he  was  reconciled  under 
a  promise  of  never  again  attempting  his  life.,  cannot  be  abso- 
lutely said  to  kill  in  treachery,  unless  there  was  between  them 
all  the  stricter  friendship — arctior  amicitia.^  You  see  now, 
you  do  not  even  understand  what  the  terms  signify,  and  yet 
you  pretend  to  talk  like  a  doctor." 

"  I  grant  you  this  is  something  quite  new  to  me,"  I  re- 
plied ;  "  and  I  should  gather  from  that  definition  that  few,  if 
any,  were  ever  killed  in  treachery  ;  for  people  seldom  take 

*  Sanchez,  Theol.  Mor.,  liv.  ii.  c.  39,  n.  7. 
f  Escobar,  tr,  6;  ex.  4,  n.  26,  55. 


160  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

it  into  their  heads  to  assassinate  any  but  their  enemies.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  however,  it  seems  that,  according  to  Sanchez, 
a  man  may  freely  slay  (I  do  not  say  treacherously,  but  only 
insidiously,  and  behind  his  back)  a  calumniator,  for  example, 
who  prosecutes  us  at  law  ?" 

"  Certainly  he  may,"  returned  the  monk,  "  always,  how- 
ever, in  the  way  of  giving  a  right  direction  to  the  intention  : 
you  constantly  forget  the  main  point  Molina  supports  the 
same  doctrine  ;  and  what  is  more,  our  learned  brother  Regi- 
nald maintains  that  we  may  despatch  the  false  witnesses 
whom  he  summons  against  us.  And,  to  crown  the  whole, 
according  to  our  great  and  famous  fathers  Tanner  and  Ema- 
nuel  Sa,  it  is  lawful  to  kill  both  the  false  witnesses  and  the 
judge  himself,  if  he  has  had  any  collusion  with  them.  Here 
are  Tanner's  very  words  :  'Sotus  and  Lessius  think  that  it  is 
not  lawful  to  kill  the  false  witnesses  and  the  magistrate  who 
conspire  together  to  put  an  innocent  person  to  death  ;  but 
Emanuel  Sa  and  other  authors  with  good  reason  impugn 
that  sentiment,  at  least  so  far  as  the  conscience  is  concerned.' 
And  he  goes  on  to  show  that  it  is  quite  lawful  to  kill  both 
the  witnesses  and  the  judge." 

"  Well,  father,"  said  I,  "  I  think  I  now  understand  pretty 
well  your  principle  regarding  the  direction  of  the  intention ; 
but  I  should  like  to  know  something  of  its  consequences,  and 
all  the  cases  in  which  this  method  of  yours  arms  a  man  with 
the  power  of  life  and  death.  Let  us  go  over  them  again,  for 
fear  of  mistake,  for  equivocation  here  might  be  attended  with 
dangerous  results.  Killing  is  a  matter  which  requires  to  be 
well-timed,  and  to  be  backed  with  a  good  probable  opinion. 
You  have  assured  me,  then,  that  by  gjving  a  proper  turn  to 
the  intention,  it  is  lawful,  according  to  your  fathers,  for  the 
preservation  of.  one's  honor,  or  even  property,  to  accept  a 
challenge  to  a  duel,  to  give  one  sometimes,  to  kill  in  a  private 
way  a  false  accuser,  and  his  witnesses  along  with  him,  and 
even  the  judge  who  has  been  bribed  to  favor  them  ;  and  you 
have  also  told  me  that  he  who  has  got  a  blow,  may,  without 


ASSASSINATION    PERMITTED.  161 

avenging  himself,  retaliate  with  the  sword.  But  you  have 
not  told  me,  father,  to  what  length  he  may  go." 

"  He  can  hardly  mistake  there,"  Replied  the  father,  "  for 
he  may  go  aTi.  the  length  of  killing  his  man.  This  is  satis- 
factorily proved  hy  the  learned  Henriquez,  and  others  of  our 
fathers  quoted  by  Escobar,  as  follows  :  '  It  is  perfectly  right 
to  kill  a  person  who  has  given  us  a  box  on  the  ear,  although 
he  should  run  away,  provided  it  is  not  done  through  hatred 
or  revenge,  and  there  is  no  danger  of  giving  occasion  thereby 
to  murders  of  a  gross  kind  and  hurtful  to  society.  And  the 
reason  is,  that  it  is  as  lawful  to  pursue  the  thief  that  has 
stolen  our  honor,  as  him  that  has  run  away  with  our  prop- 
erty. For,  although  your  honor  cannot  be  said  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  your  enemy  in  the  same  sense  as  your  goods  and 
chattels  are  in  the  hands  of  the  thief,  still  it  may  be  recov- 
ered in  the  same  way — by  showing  proofs  of  greatness  and 
authority,  and  thus  acquiring  the  esteem  of  men.  And,  in 
point  of  fact,  is  it  not  certain  that  the  man  who  has  received 
a  buffet  on  the  ear  is  held  to  be  under  disgrace,  until  he  has 
wiped  off  the  insult  with  the  blood  of  his  enemy  ?' " 

I  was  so  shocked  on  hearing  this,  that  it  was  with  great 
difficulty  I  could  contain  myself;  but,  in  my  anxiety  to  hear 
the  rest,  I  allowed  him  to  proceed. 

"  Nay,"  he  continued,  "it  is  allowable  to  prevent  a  buffet, 
by  killing  him  that  meant  to  give  it,  if  there  be  no  other  way 
to  escape  the  insult?  This  opinion  is  quite  common  with  our 
fathers.  For  example,  Azor,  one  of  the  four-and-twenty  eld- 
ers, proposing  the  question,  '  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  of  honor 
to  kill  another  who  threatens  to  give  him  a  slap  on  the  face, 
or  strike  him  with  a  stick  ?'  replies,  '  Some  say  he  may  not ; 
alleging  that  the  life  of  our  neighbor  is  more  precious  than 
our  honor,  and  that  it  would  be  an  act  of  cruelty  to  kill  a 
man  merely  to  avoid  a  blow.  Others,  however,  think  that 
it  is  allowable  ;  and  I  certainly  consider  it  probable,  when 
there  is  no  other  way  of  warding  off  the  insult ;  foi,  other- 
wise, the  honor  of  the  innocent  would  be  constantly  exposed 
to  the  malice  of  the  insolent.'  The  same  opinion  is  given  by 


162  PKOVISCIAL   LETTERS. 

our  great  Filiutius;  by  Father  Hereau,  in  his  Treatise  on 
HoinicHe;  by  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,  in  his  Disputations  ;  by 
Becan,  in  his  Summary  ;  by  our  Fathers  Flahaut  and  Le- 
court,  in  those  writings  which  the  university,  in  their  third 
petition,  quoted  at  length,  in  order  to  bring  them  into  dis- 
grace (though  in  this  they  failed)  ;  and  by  Escobar.  In 
short,  this  opinion  is  so  general,  that  Lessius  lays  it  down  as 
a  point  which  no  casuist  has  contested ;  he  quotes  a  great 
many  that  uphold,  and  none  that  deny  it ;  and  particularly 
Peter  Navarre,  who,  speaking  of  affronts  in  general  (and 
there  is  none  more  provoking  than  a  box  on  the  ear),  declares 
that  '  by  the  universal  consent  of  the  casuists,  it  is  lawful  to 
kill  the  calumniator,  if  there  be  no  other  way  of  averting  the 
affront — ex  sententia  omnium,  licet  contumeliosum  occidere,  si 
aliter  ea  injuria  arceri  nequit.'  Do  you  wish  any  more 
authorities  ?"  asked  the  monk. 

I  declared  I  was  much  obliged  to  him ;  I  had  heard  rather 
more  than  enough  of  them  already.  But  just  to  see  how  far 
this  damnable  doctrine  would  go,  I  said,  "  But,  father,  may 
not  one  be  allowed  to  kill  for  something  still  less  ?  Might 
not  a  person  so  direct  his  intention  as  lawfully  to  kill  another 
for  telling  a  lie,  for  example  ?" 

**  He  may,"  returned  the  monk ;  "  and  according  to  Father 
Baldelle,  quoted  by  Escobar,  '  you  may  lawfully  take  the  life 
of  another  for  saying,  You  have  told  a  lie ;  if  there  is  no 
other  way  of  shutting  his  mouth.'  The  same  thing  may  be 
done  in  the  case  of  slanders.  Our  Fathers  Lessius  and  Hereau 
agree  in  the  following  sentiments  :  '  If  you  attempt  to  ruin 
my  character  by  telling  stories  against  me  in  the  presence  of 
men  of  honor,  and  I  have  no  other  way  of  preventing  this 
than  "by  putting  you  to  death,  may  I  be  permitted  to  do  so  ? 
According  to  the  modern  authors,  I  may,  and  that  even 
though  I  'have  been  really  guilty  of  the  crime  which  you 
divulge,  provided  it  is  a  secret  one,  which  you  could  not 
establish  by  legal  evidence.  And  I  prove  it  thus  :  If  you 
mean  to  rob  me  of  ray  honor  by  giving  me  a  box  on  the  ear, 
J  may  prevent  it  by  force  of  arms ;  and  the  same  mode  of 


KILLINO    FOR   A   LIB.  163 

defence  is  lawful  when  you  would  do  ine  the  same  injury 
with  the  tongue.  Besides,  we  may  lawfully  obviate  affronts, 
and  therefore  slanders.  In  fine,  honor  is  dearer  than  life ; 
and  as  it  is  lawful  to  kill  in  defence  of  life,  it  must  be  so  to 
kill  in  defence  of  honor.'  There,  you  see,  are  arguments  in 
due  form;  this  is  demonstration,  sir — not  mere  discussion. 
And,  to  conclude,  this  great  man  Lessius  shows,  in  the  same 
place,  that  it  is  lawful  to  kill  even  for  a  simple  gesture,  or  a 
sign  of  contempt.  'A  man's  honor,'  he  remarks,  'may  be 
attacked  or  filched  away  in  various  ways — in  all  which  vin- 
dication appears  very  reasonable  ;  as,  for  instance,  when  one 
offers  to  strike  us  with  a  stick,  or  give  us  a  slap  on  the  face, 
or  affront  us  either  by  words  or  signs — sive  per  signal  " 

"Well,  father,"  said  I,  "  it  must  be  owned  that  you  have 
made  every  possible  provision  to  secure  the  safety  of  reputa- 
tion ;  but  it  strikes  me  that  human  life  is  greatly  in  danger, 
if  any  one  may  be  conscientiously  put  to  death  simply  for  a 
defamatory  speech  or  a  saucy  gesture." 

"  That  is  true,"  he  replied  ;  "  but  as  our  fathers  are  very 
circumspect,  they  have  thought  it  proper  to  forbid  putting 
this  doctrine  into  practice  on  such  trifling  occasions.  They 
say,  at  least,  '  that  it  ought  hardly  to  be  reduced  to  practice 
— -practice  vix  probari  potest.'  And  they  have  a  good  reason 
for  that,  as  you  shall  see." 

"  Oh !  I  know  what  it  will  be,"  interrupted  I ;  "  because 
the  law  of  God  forbids  us  to  kill,  of  course." 

"They  do  not  exactly  take  that  ground,"  said  the  father; 
"  as  a  matter  of  conscience,  and  viewing  the  thing  abstractly, 
they  hold  it  allowable." 

"  And  why,  then,  do  they  forbid  it  ?" 

"  I  shall  tell  you  that,  sir.  It  is  because,  were  we  to  kill 
all  the  defamers  among  us,  we  should  very  shortly  depopu- 
late the  country.  '  Although,'  says  Reginald,  '  the  opinion 
that  we  may  kill  a  man  for  calumny  is  not  without  its  proba- 
bility in  theory,  the  contrary  one  ought  to  be  followed  in 
practice ;  for,  in  our  mode  of  defending  ourselves,  we  should 
always  avoid  doing  injury  to  the  commonwealth ;  and  it  is 


164  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

evident  that  by  killing  people  in  this  way  there  would  be  too 
many  murders.'  '  We  should  be  on  our  guard,'  says  Lessius, 
'  lest  the  practice  of  this  maxim  prove  hurtful  to  the  State  ; 
for  in  this  case  it  ought  not  to  be  permitted — tune  enim  non 
esl  permittendus.'  " 

"  What,  father !  is  it  forbidden  only  as  a  point  of  policy, 
and  not  of  religion  ?  Few  people,  I  am  afraid,  will  pay  any 
regard  to  such  a  prohibition,  particularly  when  in  a  passion. 
Very  probably  they  might  think  they  were  doing  no  harm  to 
the  State,  by  ridding  it  of  an  unworthy  member." 

"  And  accordingly,"  replied  the  monk,  "  our  Filiutius  has 
fortified  that  argument  with  another,  which  is  of  no  slender 
importance,  namely,  '  that  for  killing  people  after  this  man- 
ner, one  might  be  punished  in  a  court  of  justice.' " 

"  There  now,  father  ;  I  told  you  before,  that  you  will  never 
be  able  to  do  anything  worth  the  while,  unless  you  get  the 
magistrates  to  go  along  with  you." 

"  The  magistrates,"  said  the  father,  "  as  they  do  not  pen- 
etrate into  the  conscience,  judge  merely  of  the  outside  of  the 
action,  while  we  look  principally  to  the  intention  ;  and  hence 
it  occasionally  happens  that  our  maxims  are  a  little  different 
from  theirs." 

"  Be  that  as  it  may,  father  ;  from  yours,  at  least,  one  thing 
may  be  fairly  inferred — that,  by  taking  care  not  to  injure  the 
commonwealth,  we  may  kill  defamers  with  a  safe  conscience, 
provided  we  can  do  it  with  a  sound  skin.  But,  sir,  after 
having  seen  so  well  to  the  protection  of  honor,  have  you 
done  nothing  for  property  ?  I  am  aware  it  is  of  inferior  im- 
portance, but  that  does  not  signify  ;  I  should  think  one 
might  direct  one's  intention  to  kill  for  its  preservation  also." 

"  Yes,"  replied  the  monk ;  "  and  I  gave  you  a  hint  to  that 
effect  already,  which  may  have  suggested  the  idea  to  you. 
All  our  casuists  agree  in  that  opinion ;  and  they  even  extend 
the  permission  to  those  cases  '  where  no  further  violence  is 
apprehended  from  those  that  steal  our  property ;  as,  for  ex 
ample,  where  the  thief  runs  away.'  Azor,  one  of  our  Society, 
proves  that  point." 


KILLING    FOR    PROPERTY.  165 

"  But,  sir,  how  much  must  the  article  be  worth,  to  justify 
our  proceeding  to  that  extremity  ?"  )lk.  • 

"  According  to  Reginald  and  Tanner,  'the  article  must  be 
of  great  value  in  the  estimation  of  a  judicious  man.'  And  so 
think  Layman  and  Filiutius." 

"  But,  father,  that  is  saying  nothing  to  the  purpose  ;  where 
am  I  to  find  '  a  judicious  man'  (a  rare  person  to  meet  with  at 
any  time),  in  order  to  make  this  estimation  ?  Why  do  they 
not  settle  upon  an  exact  sum  at  once  ?" 

"  Ay,  indeed  !"  retorted  the  monk  ;  "  and  was  it  so  easy, 
think  you,  to  adjust  the  comparative  value  between  the  life 
of  a  man,  and  a  Christian  man,  too,  and  money  ?  It  is  here 
I  would  have  you  feel  the  need  of  our  casuists.  Show  me 
any  of  your  ancient  fathers  who  will  tell  for  how  much  money 
we  may  be  allowed  to  kill  a  man.  What  will  they  say,  but 
'  Non  occides — Thou  shalt  not  kill  ?'  " 

"  And  who,  then,  has  ventured  to  fix  that  sum  ?"  I  in- 
quired. 

"  Our  great  and  incomparable  Molina,"  he  replied — "  the 
glory  of  our  Society — who  has,  in  his  inimitable  wisdom, 
estimated  the  life  of  a  man  '  at  six  or  seven  ducats ;  for 
which  sum  he  assures  us  it  is  warrantable  to  kill  a  thief, 
even  though  he  should  run  off;'  and  he  adds,  'that  he  would 
not  venture  to  condemn  that  man  as  guilty  of  any  sin  who 
should  kill  another  for  taking  away  an  article  worth  a  crown, 
or  even  less — unius  aurei,  vel  minoris  adhuc  valoris  ;'  which 
has  led  Escobar  to  lay  it  down  as  a  general  rule,  '  that  a  man 
may  be  killed  quite  regularly,  according  to  Molina,  for  the 
value  of  a  crown-piece.'  " 

"  0  father !"  cried  I,  "  where  can  Molina  have  got  all  this 
wisdom  to  enable  him  to  determine  a  matter  of  such  impor- 
tance, without  any  aid  from  Scripture,  the  councils,  or  the 
fathers  ?  It  is  quite  evident  that  he  has  obtained  an  illumi- 
nation peculiar  to  himself,  and  is  far  beyond  St.  Augustine 
in  the  matter  of  homicide,  as  well  as  of  grace.  Well,  now, 
I  suppose  I  may  consider  myself  master  of  this  chapter  of 
morals  :  and  I  see  perfectly  that,  with  the  exception  of  eccle- 


166  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

siastics,  nobody  need  refrain  from  killing  those  who  injure 
them  in  their  property  or  reputation." 

"  What  say  you  ?"  exclaimed  the  monk.  "  Do  you  then 
suppose  that  it  would  be  reasonable  that  those  who  ought 
of  all  men  to  be  most  respected,  should  alone  be  exposed  -to 
the  insolence  of  the  wicked  ?  Our  fathers  have  provided 
against  that  disorder ;  for  Tanner  declares  that  '  Churchmen, 
and  even  monks,  are  permitted  to  kill,  for  the  purpose  of 
defending  not  only  their  lives,  but  their  property,  and  that 
of  their  community.'  Molina,  Escobar,  Becan,  Reginald, 
Layman,  Lessius,  and  others,  hold  the  same  language.  Nay, 
according  to  our  celebrated  Father  Lamy,*  priests  and  monks 
may  lawfully  prevent  those  who  would  injure  them  by  cal- 
umnies from  carrying  their  ill  designs  into  effect,  by  putting 
them  to  death.  Care,  however,  must  be  always  taken  to 
direct  the  intention  properly.  His  words  are:  'An  ecclesi- 
astic or  a  monk  may  warrant-ably  kill  a  defamer  who  threatens 
to  publish  the  scandalous  crimes  of  his  community,  or  his 
own  crimes,  when  there  is  no  other  way  of  stopping  him  ; 
if,  for  instance,  he  is  prepared  to  circulate  his  defamations 
unless  promptly  despatched.  For,  in  these  circumstances,  as 
the  monk  would  be  allowed  to  kill  one  who  threatened  to 
take  his  life,  he  is  also  warranted  to  kill  him  who  would  de- 
prive him  of  his  reputation  or  his  property,  in  the  same  way 
as  the  men  of  the  world.'  " 

"  I  was  not  aware  of  that,"  said  I ;  "in  fact,  I  have  been 
accustomed  simply  enough  to  believe  the  very  reverse,  with- 
out reflecting  on  the  matter,  in  consequence  of  having  heard 
that  the  Church  had  such  an  abhorrence  of  bloodshed  as 
not  even  to  permit  ecclesiastical  judges  to  attend  in  criminal 


*  Francois  Amicus,  or  L'Amy,  was  chancellor  of  the  University  of 
Gratz.  In  his  Cours  Theologique.  published  in  1642  he  advances  the 
most  dangerous  tenets,  particularly  on  the  subject  of  murder. 

•\  This  is  true;  but  in  the  case  of  heretics,  at  least,  they  found  out  a 
convenient  mode  of  compromising  the  matter.  Having  condemned 
their  victim  as  worthy  of  death,  he  was  delivered  over  to  the  secular 
court,  with  the  disgusting  farce  of  a  recommendation  to  mercy,  couch* 
ed  in  the*  terms :  "  My  ford  judgfe,  we  beg  df  you  vrith  all  podaible  af. 


CHURCHMEN    MAY    KILL.  167 

"  Never  mind  that,"  lie  replied  ;  "  our  Father  Laray  has 
completely  proved  the  doctrine  I  hive  laid  down,  although, 
•with  a  humility  which  sits  uncommonly  well  on  so  great  a 
man,  he  submits  it  to  the  judgment  of  his  judicious  readers. 
Caramuel,  too,  our  famous  champion,  quoting  it  in  his  Fun- 
damental Theology,  p.  543,  thinks  it  so  certain,  that  he  de- 
chores  the  contrary  opinion  to  be  destitute  of  probability,  and 
draws  some  admirable  conclusions  from  it,  such  as  the  fol- 
lowing, which  he  calls  'the  conclusion  of  conclusions — con- 
dusionum  conclusio  :'  '  That  a  priest  not  only  may  kill  a 
slanderer,  but  there  are  certain  circumstances  in  which  it 
may  be  his  duly  to  do  so — etiam  aliquando  debet  occidere.' 
He  examines  a  great  many  new  questions  on  this  principle, 
such  as  the  following,  for  instance  :  'May  the  Jesuits  kill  the 
Jansenists  ?' " 

"  A  curious  point  of  divinity  that,  father !"  cried  I.  "  I 
hold  the  Jansenists  to  be.  as  good  as  dead  men,  according  to 
Father  Lamy's  doctrine." 

"There  now,  you  are  in  the  wrong,"  said  the  monk: 
"  Caramuel  infers  the  very  reverse  from  the  same  principles." 

"  And  how  so,  father  ?" 

"  Because,"  he  replied,  "  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  Jan- 
senists to  injure  our  reputation.  'The  Jansenists,'  says  he, 
'  call  the  Jesuits  Pelagians ;  may  they  not  be  killed  for 
that  ?  No ;  inasmuch  as  the  Jansenists  can  no  more  obscure 
the  glory  of  the  Society  than  an  owl  can  eclipse  that  of  the 
sun ;  on  the  contrary,  they  have,  though  against  their  in- 
tention, enhanced  it — occidi  non  possunt,  quia  nocere  non  po- 
tuerunt.'  " 

"  Ha,  father  !  do  the  lives  of  the  Jansenists,  then,  depend 
on  the  contingency  of  their  injuring  your  reputation  ?  If  so, 
I  reckon  them  far  from  being  in  a  safe  position ;  for  suppos- 

fcction,  for  the  love  of  God,  and  as  you  would  expect  the  gifts  of  mercy 
and  compassion,  and  the  benefit  of  our  prayers,  not  to  do  anything  in- 
jurious to  this  miserable  man,  tending  to  death  or  the  mutilation  of  his 
body  !"  '(Crespin,  Hist,  des  Martyres,  p.  185.) 


188  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

ing  it  should  be  thought  in  the  slightest  degree  probable  that 
they  might  do  you  some  mischief,  why,  they  are  Mllable  at 
once  !'  You  have  only  to  draw  up  a  sylllogism  in  due  form, 
and,  with  a  direction  of  the  intention,  you  may  despatch  your 
man  at  once  with  a  safe  conscience.  Thrice  happy  must 
those  hot  spirits  be  who  cannot  bear  with  injuries,  to  be  in- 
structed in  this  doctrine  !  But  woe  to  the  poor  people  who 
have  offended  them !  Indeed,  father,  it  would  be  better  to 
have  to  do  with  persons  who  have  no  religion  at  all,  than 
with  those  who  have  been  taught  on  this  system.  For,  after 
ill,  the  intention  of  the  wounder  conveys  no  comfort  to  the 
wounded.  The  poor  man  sees  nothing  of  that  secret  direction 
of  which  you  speak ;  he  is  only  sensible  of  the  direction  of 
the  blow  that  is  dealt  him.  And  I  am  by  no  means  sure 
but  a  person  would  feel  much  less  sorry  to  see  himself  bru- 
tally killed  by  an  infuriated  villain,  than  to  find  himself  con- 
scientiously stilettoed  by  a  devotee.  To  be  plain  with  you, 
father,  I  am  somewhat  staggered  at  all  this;  and  these 
questions  of  Father  Lamy  and  Caramuel  do  not  please  me  at 
all." 

"How  so?"  cried  the  monk.     "Are  you  a  Jansenist  ?" 

"  I  have  another  reason  for  it,"  I  replied.  "  You  must 
know  I  am  in  the  habit  of  writing  from  time  to  time,  to  a 
friend  of  mine  in  the  country,  nil  that  I  can  learn  of  the  max- 
ims of  your  doctors.  Now,  although  I  do  no  more  than 
simply  report  and  faithfully  quote  their  own  words,  yet  I  am 
apprehensive  lest  my  letter  should  fall  into  the  hands  of  some 
stray  genius,  who  may  take  into  his  head  that  I  have  done 
you  injury,  and  may  draw  some  mischievous  conclusion  from 
your  premises." 

"  Away  !"  cried  the  monk  ;  "  no  fear  of  danger  from  that 
quarter,  I'll  give  you  my  word  for  it.  Know  that  what  our 
fathers  have  themselves  printed,  with  the  approbation  of 
our  superiors,  it  cannot  be  wrong  to  read  nor  dangerous  to 
publish." 

I  write  you,  therefore,  on  the  faith  of  this  worthy  father's 


MAY   JESUITS    KILL   JANSENISTS  ?  169 

word  of  honor.  But,  in  the  mean  time,  I  must  stop  for  want 
of  paper — not  of  passages ;  for  I  have  got  as  many  more  in 
reserve,  and  good  ones  too,  as  would  require  volumes  to  con- 
tain them. — I  am,  &c.* 

*  It  may  be  noticed  here,  that  Father  Daniel  has  attempted  to  evade 
the  main  charge  against  the  Jesuits  in  this  letter  by  adroitly  altering  the 
state  of  the  question.  He  argues  that  the  intention  is  the  soul  of  an 
action,  and  that  which  often  makes  it  good  or  evil ;  thus  cunningly  in- 
sinuating thnt  his  casuists  refer  only  to  indifferent  actions,  in  regard  to 
which  nobody  denies  that  it  is  the  "intention  that  makes  them  good  or 
bad.  (Entretiens  de  Cleandre  et  d'Eudoxe,  p.  334.)  It  is  unnecessary 
to  do>  more  than  refer  the  reader  back  to  the  instances  cited  in  the  letter, 
to  convince  him  that  what  these  casuists  really  maintain  is,  that  actions 
in  themselves  evil,  may  be  allowed,  provided  the  intentions  are  good  ; 
a/id,  moreover,  that  in  order  to  make  these  intentions  good,  it  is  not  ne- 
cessary that  they  have  any  reference  to  God,  but  sufficient  if  they  refer 
to  our  own  convenience,  cupidity  or  vanity.  (Apologie  des  LettresPro- 
vinciales,  pp.  212-221.) 

8 


LETTER  VIII.* 

CORRUPT    MAXIMS    OF    THE     CASUISTS    RELATING    TO  JUDGES USU- 

EERS — THE     CONTRACT     MOHATRA — BANKRUPTS RESTITUTION — 

DIVERS   RIDICULOUS   NOTIONS   OF    THESE    SAME   CASUISTS. 

PARIS,  May  28,  1656. 

SIR, — You  did  not  suppose  that  anybody  would  have  the 
curiosity  to  know  who  we  were  ;  but  it  seems  there  are  peo- 
ple who  are  trying  to  make  it  out,  though  they  are  not  very 
happy  in  their  conjectures.  Some  take  me  for  a  doctor  of 
the  Sorbonne ;  others  ascribe  my  letters  to  four  or  five  per- 
sons, who,  like  me,  are  neither  priests  nor  Churchmen.  All 
these  false  surmises  convince  me  that  I  have  succeeded  pretty 
well  in  my  object,  which  was  to  conceal  myself  from  all  but 
yourself  and  the  worthy  monk,  who  still  continues  to  bear 
with  my  visits,  while  I  still  contrive,  though  with  considerable 
difficulty,  to  bear  with  his  conversations.  I  am  obliged,  how- 
ever, to  restrain  myself;  for  were  he  to  discover  how  much  I 
am  shocked  at  his  communications,  he  would  discontinue 
them,  and  thus  put  it  out  of  my  power  to  fulfil  the  promise 
I  gave  you,  of  making  you  acquainted  with  their  morality. 
You  ought  to  think  a  great  deal  of  the  violence  which  I  thus 
do  to  my  own  feelings.  It  is  no  easy  matter,  I  can  assure 
you,  to  stand  still  and  see  the  whole  system  of  Christian  eth- 
ics undermined  by  such  a  set  of  monstrous  principles,  with- 
out daring  to  put  in  a  word  of  flat  contradiction  against  them. 
But  after  having  borne  so  much  for  your  satisfaction,  I  am 
resolved  I  shall  burst  out  for  my  own  satisfaction  in  the  end, 
•when  his  stock  of  information  has  been  exhausted.  Mean- 
while, I  shall  repress  my  feelings  as  much  as  I  possibly  can ; 

*  ThiB  Letter  also  WM  revised  by  M.  Nicole. 


MAXIMS    FOB   JUDGES.  11 

for  I  find  that  the  more  I  hold  my  tongue,  he  is  the  more 
communicative.  The  last  time  I  saw  him,  he  told  me  so 
many  things,  that  I  shall  have  some  difficulty  in  repeating 
them  all.  On  the  point  of  restitution  you  will  find  they  have 
some  most  convenient  principles.  For,  however  the  good 
monk  palliates  his  maxims,  those  which  I  am  about  to  lay 
before  you  really  go  to  sanction  corrupt  judges,  usurers,  bank- 
rupts, thieves,  prostitutes  and  sorcerers — all  of  whom  are 
most  libofally  absolved  from  the  obligation  of  restoring  their 
ill-gotten  gains.  It  was  thus  the  monk  resumed  the  conver- 
sation : — 

"  At  the  commencement  of  our  interviews,  I  engaged  to 
explain  to  you  the  maxims  of  our  authors  for  all  ranks  and 
classes  ;  and  you  have  already  seen  those  that  relate  to  bene- 
ficiaries, to  priests,  to  monks,  to  domestics,  and  to  gentlemen. 
Let  us  now  take  a  cursory  glance  of  the  remaining,  and  begin 
with  the  judges. 

"  Now  I  am  going  to  tell  you  one  of  the  most  important 
and  advantageous  maxims  which  our  fathers  have  laid  down 
in  their  favor.  Its  author  is  the  learned  Castro  Palao,  one 
of  our  four-and-twenty  elders.  His  words  are:  'May  a 
judge,  in  a  question  of  right  and  wrong,  pronounce  accord- 
ing to  a  probable  opinion,  in  preference  to  the  more  probable 
opinion  ?  He  may,  even  though  it  should  be  contrary  to  his 
own  judgment — into  contra  propriam  opinionem'  " 

"  Well,  father,"  cried  I,  "  that  is  a  very  fair  commence- 
ment !  The  judges,  surely,  are  greatly  obliged  to  you ;  and 
I  am  surprised  that  they  should  be  so  hostile,  as  we  have 
sometimes  observed,  to  y*our  probabilities,  seeing  these  are  so 
favorable  to  them.  For  it  would  appear  from  this,  that  you 
give  them  the  same  power  over  men's  fortunes,  as  you  have 
given  to  yourselves  over  their  consciences." 

"  You  perceive  we  are  far  from  -being  actuated  by  self- 
interest,"  returned  he ;  "  we  have  had  no  other  end  in  view 
than  the  repose  of  their  consciences ;  and  to  the  same  use- 
ful purpose  has  our  great  Molina  devoted  his  attention,  in  re- 
gard to  the  presents  which  may  be  made  them.  To  remove 


172  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

any  scruples  which  they  might  entertain  in  accepting  of  these 
on  certain  occasions,  he  has  been  at  the  pains  to  draw  out  a 
list  of  all  those  cases  in  which  bribes  may  be  taken  with  a 
good  conscience,  provided,  at  least,  there  be  no  special  law 
forbidding  them.  He  says:  'Judges  may  receive  presents 
from  parties,  when  they  are  given  them  either  for  friendship's 
sake,  or  in  gratitude  for  some  former  act  of  justice,  or  to 
induce  them  to  give  justice  in  future,  or  to  oblige  them  to 
pay  particular  attention  to  their  case,  or  to  engage  them  to 
despatch  it  promptly.'  The  learned  Escobar  delivers  himself 
to  the  same  effect  :  '  If  there  be  a  number  of  persons,  none 
of  whom  have  more  right  than  another  to  have  their  causes 
disposed  of,  will  the  judge  who  accepts  of  something  from 
one  of  them  on  condition — ex  pacto — of  taking  up  his  cause 
first,  be  guilty  of  sin  ?  Certainly  not,  according  to  Layman  ; 
for,  in  common  equity,  he  does  no  injury  to  the  rest,  by 
granting  to  one,  in  consideration  of  his  present,  what  he  was 
at  liberty  to  grant  to  any  of  them  he  pleased ;  and  besides, 
being  under  an  equal  obligation  to  them  all  in  respect  of  their 
right,  he  becomes  more  obliged  to  the  individual  who  fur- 
nished the  donation,  who  thereby  acquired  for  himself  a  pref- 
erence above  the  rest — a  preference  which  seems  capable  of 
a  pecuniary  valuation — quce  obligatio  videtur  pretio  (Estimabi- 
lis.'  " 

"  May  it  please  your  reverence,"  said  I,  "  after  such  a  per- 
mission, I  am  surprised  that  the  first  magistrates  of  the  king- 
dom should  know  no  better.  For  the  first  president*  has 
actually  carried  an  order  in  Parliament  to  prevent  certain 
clerks  of  court  from  taking  money  for  that  very  sort  of  pref- 
erence— a  sign  that  he  is  far  from  thinking  it  allowable  in 
judges ;  and  everybody  has  applauded  this  as  a  reform  of 
great  benefit  to  all  parties." 

The  worthy  monk  was  surprised  at  this  piece  of  intelli- 
gence, and  replied  :  "  Are  you  sure  of  that  ?  I  heard  noth- 


•  The  president  referred  to  was  Pomponc  de  Bellievre.  on  whom  M. 
Peliason  pronounced  a  beautiful  eulogy. 


USURY.  173 

ing  about  it.  Our  opinion,  recollect,  is  only  probable ;  the 
contrary  is  probable  also." 

"To  tell  you  the  truth,  father," said  I,  "people  think  that 
the  first  president  has  acted  more  than  probablv  well,  and 
that  he  has  thus  put  a  stop  to  a  course  of  public  corruption 
which  has  been  too  long  winked  at." 

"  I  am  not  far  from  being  of  the  same  mind,"  returned 
he  ;  "  but  let  us  waive  that  point,  and  say  no  more  about  the 
judges."' 

"  You  are  quite  right,  sir,"  said  I ;  "  indeed,  they  are  not 
half  thankful  enough  for  all  you  have  done  for  them." 

"That  is  not  my  reason,"  said  the  father;  "but  there  is 
so  much  to  be  said  on  all  the  different  classes,  that  we  must 
study  brevity  on  each  of  them.  Let  us  now  say  a  word  or 
two  about  men  of  business.  You  are  aware  that  our  great 
difficulty  with  these  gentlemen  is  to  keep  them  from  usury — 
an  object  to  accomplish  which  our  fathers  have  been  at  par- 
ticular pains ;  for  they  hold  this  vice  in  such  abhorrence,  that 
Escobar  declares  '  it  is  heresy  to  say  that  usury  is  no  sin ;' 
and  Father  Bauny  has  filled  several  pages  of  his  Summary 
of  Sins  with  the  pains  and  penalties  due  to  usurers.  He  de- 
clares them  '  infamous  during  their  life,  and  unworthy  of  sep- 
ulture after  their  death.'  " 

"  0  dear !"  cried  I,  "  I  had  no  idea  he  was  so  severe." 

"  He  can  be  severe  enough  when  there  is  occasion  for  it," 
said  the  ir/.onk  ;  "  but  then  this  learned  casuist,  having  ob- 
served that  some  are  allured  into  usury  merely  from  the  love 
of  gain,  remarks  in  the  same  place,  that  '  he  would  confer  no 
small  obligation  on  society,  who,  while  he  guarded  it  against 
the  evil  effects  of  usury,  and  of  the  sin  which  gives  birth  to 
it,  would  suggest  a  method  by  which  one's  money  might  se- 
cure as  large,  if  not  a  larger  profit,  in  some  honest  and  law- 
ful employment,  than  he  could  derive  from  usurious  deal- 
ings.' " 

"Undoubtedly,  father,  there  would  be  no  more  usurers 
after  that." 

"  Accordingly,"  continued  he,  "  our  casuist  has  suggested 


174  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS, 

'  a  general  method  for  all  sorts  of  persons — gentlemen,  presi- 
dents, councillors,'  &c. ;  and  a  very  simple  process  it  is,  con- 
^sisting  only  in  the  use  of  certain  words  which  must  be  pro- 
nounced by  the  person  in  the  act  of  lending  his  money  ;  after 
which  he  mny  take  his  interest  for  it  without  fear  of  being  a 
usurer,  which  he  certainly  would  be  on  any  other  plan." 

"And  pray  what  may  those  mysterious  words  be,  father?" 

"  I  will  give  you  them  exactly  in  his  own  words,"  said  the 
father ;  "  for  he  has  written  his  Summary  in  French,  you 
know,  '  that  it  may  be  understood  by  everybody,'  as  he  says 
in  the  preface :  '  The  person  from  whom  the  loan  is  asked, 
must  answer,  then,  in  this  manner :  I  have  got  no  money  to 
lend  ;  I  have  got  a  little,  however,  to  lay  out  for  an  honest 
and  lawful  profit.  If  you  are  anxious  to  have  the  sum  you 
mention  in  order  to  make  something  of  it  by  your  industry, 
dividing  the  profit  and  loss  between  us,  I  may  perhaps  be 
able  to  accommodate  you.  But  now  I  think  of  it,  as  it  may 
be  a  matter  of  difficulty  to  agree  about  the  profit,  if  you 
will  secure  me  a  certain  portion  of  it,  and  give  me  so  much 
for  my  principal,  so  that  it  incur  no  risk,  we  may  come  to 
terms  much  sooner,  and  you  shall  touch  the  cash  imme- 
diately.' Is  not  that  an  easy  plan  for  gaining  money  without 
sin  ?  And  has  not  Father  Bauny  good  reason  for  conclud- 
ing with  these  words  :  '  Such,  in  my  opinion,  is  an  excellent 
pla  *  by  which  a  great  many  people,  who  now  provoke  the 
jusl  indignation  of  God  by  their  usuries,  extortions,  and  illicit 
bargains,  might  save  themselves,  in  the  way  of  making  good, 
honest,  and  legitimate  profits?'" 

"  0  sir  !"  I  exclaimed,  "  what  potent  words  these  must  be ! 
Dovbtless  they  must  possess  some  latent  virtue  to  chase  away 
the  demon  of  usury  which  I  know  nothing  of,  for,  in  my 
poor  judgment,  I  always  thought  that  that  vice  consisted  in 
recovering  more  money  than  what  was  lent." 

"  You  know  little  about  it  indeed,"  he  replied.  "Usury, 
according  to  our  fathers,  consists  in  little  more  than  the  in- 
tention of  taking  the  interest  as  usurious.  Escobar,  accord- 
ingly, shows  you  how  you  may  avoid  usury  by  a  simple  shift 


THE    MOHATRA.  175 

of  the  intenticn.  '  It  would  be  downright  usury,'  says  he, 
'  to  take  interest  from  the  borrower,  if  we  should  exact  it  as 
due  in  point  of  justice ;  but  if  only  exacted  as  due  in  point 
of  gratitude,  it  is  not  usury.  Again,  it  is  not  lawful  to  have 
directly  the  intention  of  profiting  by  the  money  lent ;  but  tc 
claim  it  through  the  medium  of  the  benevolence  of  the  bor- 
rower— media  benevolentia — is  not  usury.'  These  are  subtle 
methods ;  but,  to  my  mind,  the  best  of  them  all  (for  we  have 
a  great  choice  of  them)  is  that  of  the  Mohatra  bargain." 

"  The  Mohatra,  father !" 

"  You  are  not  acquainted  with  it,  I  see,"  returned  he. 
"  The  name  is  the  only  strange  thing  about  it.  Escobar  will 
explain  it  to  you :  '  The  Mohatra  bargain  is  effected  by  the 
needy  person  purchasing  some  goods  at  a  high  price  and  on 
credit,  in  order  to  sell  them  over  again,  at  the  same  time  aW 
to  the  same  merchant,  for  ready  money  and  at  a  cheap  rate.' 
This  is  what  we  call  the  Mohatra — a  sort  of  bargain,  you 
perceive,  by  which  a  person  receives  a  certain  sum  of  ready 
money,  by  becoming  bound  to  pay  more." 

"  But,  sir,  I  really  think  nobody  but  Escobar  has  employed 
such  a  term  as  that ;  is  it  to  be  found  in  any  other  book  ?" 

"  How  little  you  do  know  of  what  is  going  on,  to  be  sure !" 
cried  the  father.  "  Why,  the  last  work  on  theological  mo- 
rality, printed  at  Paris  this  very  year,  speaks  of  the  Mohatra, 
and  learnedly,  too.  It  is  called  Epilogus  Summarum,  and 
is  an  abridgment  of  all  the  summaries  of  divinity — extracted 
from  Suarez,  Sanchez,  Lessius,  Fagundez,  Hurtado,  and  other 
celebrated  casuists,  as  the  title  bears.  There  you  will  find  it 
said,  at  p.  54,  that  '  the  Mohatra  bargain  takes  place  when 
a  man  who  has  occasion  for  twenty  pistoles  purchases  from  a 
merchant  goods  to  the  amount  of  thirty  pistoles,  payable 
within  a  year,  and  sells  them  back  to  him  on  the  spot  for 
twenty  pistoles  ready  money.'  This  shows  you  that  the 
Mohatra  is  not  such  an  unheard-of  term  as  you  supposed." 

"  But,  father,  is  that  sort  of  bargain  lawful  ?" 

"  Escobar,"  replied  he,  "  tells  us  in  the  same  place,  that 
there  are  laws  which  proliibit  it  under  very  severe  penalties." 


176  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

"  It  is  useless,  then,  I  suppose  ?" 

"Not  at  all;  Escobar,  in  the  same  passage,  suggests  ex- 
pedients for  making  it  lawful :  '  It  is  so,  even  though  the 
principal  intention  both  of  the  buyer  and  seller  is  to  make 
money  by  the  transaction,  provided  the  seller,  in  disposing 
of  the  goods,  does  not  exceed  their  highest  price,  and  in  re- 
purchasing them  does  not  go  below  their  lowest  price,  and 
that  no  previous  bargain  has  been  made,  expressly  or  other- 
wise.' Lessius,  however,  maintains,  that  '  even  though  the 
merchant  has  sold  his  goods,  with  the  intention  of  re-purchas- 
ing them  at  the  lowest  price,  he  is  not  bound  to  make  resti- 
tution of  the  profit  thus  acquired,  unless,  perhaps,  as  an  act 
of  charity,  in  the  case  of  the  person  from  whom  it  has  been 
exacted  being  in  poor  circumstances,  and  not  even  then,  if 
he  cannot  do  it  without  inconvenience — si  commode  non 
potest.'  This  is  the  utmost  length  to  which  they  could  go." 

"  Indeed,  sir,"  said  I,  "  any  further  indulgence  would,  I 
should  think,  be  rather  too  .much." 

"  Oh,  our  fathers  know  very  well  when  it  is  time  for  them 
to  stop  !"  cried  the  monk.  "So  much,  then,  for  the  utility 
of  the  Mohatra.  I  might  have  mentioned  several  other 
methods,  but  these  may  suffice ;  and  I  have  now  to  say  a 
little  in  regard  to  those  who  are  in  embarrassed  circumstances. 
Our  casuists  have  sought  to  relieve  them,  according  to  their 
condition  of  life.  For,  if  they  have  not  enough  of  property 
for  a  decent  maintenance,  and  at  the  same  time  for  paying 
their  debts,  they  permit  them  to  secure  a  portion  by  making 
a  bankruptcy  with  their  creditors.*  This  has  been  decided 

*  The  Jesuits  exemplified  their  own  maxnv.  in  this  case  by  the  famous 
bankruptcy  of  their  College  of  St.  Hermenigilde  at  Seville.  We  have 
a  full  account  of  this  in  the  memorial  presented  to  the  King  of  Spain  hy 
the  luckless  creditors.  The  simple  pathos  and  sincere  earnestness  of 
this  document  preclude  all  suspicion  of  the  accuracy  of  its  statements. 
By  the  advice  of  their  Father  Provincial,  the  Jesuits,  in  March.  1645, 
stopped  payments  after  having  horr-owed  upwards  of  450,000  ducats, 
mostly  from  poor  widows  and  friendless  girls.  This  shameful  affair 
was  exposed  before  the  courts  of  justice,  during  a  long  litigation,  in  the 
course  of  which  it  was  discovered  that  the  Jesuit  fathers  had  been  carry- 
ing on  extensive  mercantile  transactions,  and  that  instead  of  spending 
the  money  left  them  for  pious  uses— such  as  ransoming  captives,  and 


ROBBERY.  177 

by  Lessius,  and  confirmed  by  Escobar,  as  follows:  'May  a 
person  who  turns  bankrupt,  with  a  good  conscience  keep 
back  as  much  of  his  personal  estate  as  may  be  necessary  to 
maintain  his  family  in  a  respectable  way — ne  indecore  moat? 
I  hold,  with  Lessius,  that  he  may,  even  though  he  may  have 
acquired  his  wealth  unjustly  and  by  notorious  crimes — ex 
injustitia  et  notorio  delicto ;  only,  in  this  case,  he  is  not  at 
liberty  to  retain  so  large  an  amount  as  he  otherwise  might.'  " 

"  Indeed,  father !  what  a  strange  sort  of  charity  is  this, 
to  allow  property  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  man  who 
has  acquired  it  by  rapine,  to  support  him  in  his  extravagance 
rather  than  go  into  the  hands  of  his  creditors,  to  whom  it  le- 
gitimately belongs !" 

"  It  is  impossible  to  please  everybody,"  replied  the  father; 
"  and  we  have  made  it  our  particular  study  to  relieve  these 
unfortunate  people.  This  partiality  to  the  poor  has  induced 
our  great  Vasquez,  cited  by  Castro  Palao,  to  say,  that  'if  one 
saw  a  thief  going  to  rob  a  poor  man,  it  would  be  lawful  to 
divert  him  from  his  purpose  by  pointing  out  to  him  some 
rich  individual,  whom  he  might  rob  in  place  of  the  other.' 
If  you  have  not  access  to  Vasquez  or  Castro  Palao,  you  will 
find  the  same  thing  in  your  copy  of  Escobar;  for,  as  you 
are  aware,  his  work  is  little  more  than  a  compilation  from 
twenty-four  of  the  most  celebrated  of  our  fathers.  You  will 
find  it  in  his  treatise,  entitled  'The  Practice  of  our  Society, 
in  the  matter  of  Charity  towards  our  Neighbors.' " 

"A  very  singular  kind  of  charity  this,"  I  observed,  "to 
save  one  man  from  suffering  loss,  by  inflicting  it  upon  an- 
other !  But  I  suppose  that,  to  complete  the  charity,  the 
charitable  adviser  would  be  bound  in  conscience  to  restore 
to  the  rich  man  the  sum  which  he  had  made  him  lose  ?" 

"  Not  at  all,  sir,"  returned  the  monk ;  "  for  he  did  not  rob 
the  man — he  only  advised  the  other  to  do  it.  But  only 
attend  to  this  notable  decision  of  Father  Bauny,  on  a  case 
which  will  still  more  astonish  you,  and  in  which  you  would 

almsgiving — they  had  devoted  it  to  the  purposes  of  what  they  termed 
•'  our  poor  little  house  of  profession."  (Theatre  Jesuitique,  p.  200,  &c.)- 

8* 


178  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

suppose  there  was  a  much  stronger  obligation  to  make  res- 
titution. Here  are  bis  identical  words :  '  A  person  asks  a 
soldier  to  beat  his  neighbor,  or  to  set  fire  to  the  barn  of  a 
man  that  has  injured  him.  The  question  is,  Whether,  in  the 
absence  of  the  soldier,  the  person  who  employed  him  to  com- 
mit these  outrages  is  bound  to  make  reparation  out  of  his 
own  pocket  for  the  damage  that  has  followed  ?  My  opinion 
is,  that  he  is  not.  For  none  can  be  held  bound  to  restitution, 
where  there  has  been  no  violation  of  justice ;  and  is  justice 
violated  by  asking  another  to  do  us  a  favor?  As  to  the 
nature  of  the  request  which  he  made,  he  is  at  liberty  either 
to  acknowledge  or  deny  it ;  to  whatever  side  he  may  incline, 
it  is  a  matter  of  "mere  choice  ;  nothing  obliges  him  to  it,  un- 
less it  may  be  the  goodness,  gentleness,  and  easiness  of  his 
disposition.  If  the  soldier,  therefore,  makes  no  reparation 
for  the  mischief  he  has  done,  it  ought  not  to  be  exacted  from 
him  at  whose  request  he  injured  the  innocent/" 

This  sentence  had  very  nearly  broken  up  the  whole  con- 
versation, for  I  was  on  the  point  of  bursting  into  a  laugh  at 
the  idea  of  the  goodness  and  gentleness  of  a  burner  of  barns, 
and  at  these  strange  sophisms  which  would  exempt  from  the 
duty  of  restitution  the  principal  and  real  incendiary,  whom 
the  civil  magistrate  would  not  exempt  from  the  halter.  But 
had  I  not  restrained  myself,  the  worthy  monk,  who  was  per- 
fectly serious,  would  have  been  displeased;  he  proceeded, 
therefore,  without  any  alteration  of  countenance,  in  his  ob- 
servnlions. 

"  From  such  a  mass  of  evidence,  you  ought  to  be  satisfied 
now  of  the  futility  of  your  objections ;  but  we  are  losing 
sight  of  our  subject.  To  revert,  then,  to  the  succor  which 
our  fathers  apply  to  persons  in  straitened  circumstances, 
Lessius,  among  others,  maintains  that  'it  is  lawful  to  steal, 
not  only  in  a  case  of  extreme  necessity,  but  even  where  the 
necessity  is  grave,  though  not  extreme.'  " 

"  This  is  somewhat  startling,  father,"  said  I.  "  There  are 
very  few  people  in  this  world  who  do  not  consider  their  cases 
of  necessity  to  be  grave  ones,  and  to  whom,  accordingly,  you 


ILLICIT    GAINS.  .  179 

would  not  give  the  right  of  stealing  with  a  good  conscience. 
And  though  you  should  restrict  the  permission  to  those  only 
who  are  really  and  truly  in  that  condition,  you  open  the  door 
to  an  infinite  number  of  petty  larcenies  which  the  magistrates 
would  punish  in  spite  of  your  'grave  necessity,'  and  which 
you  ought  to  repress  on  a  higher  principle— you  who  are 
bound  by  your  office  to  be  the  conservators,  not  of  justice 
only,  but  of  charity  between  man  and  man,  a  grace  which 
this  permission  would  destroy.  For  after  all,  now,  is  it  not 
a  violation  of  the  law  of  charity,  and  of  our  duty  to  our 
neighbor,  to  deprive  a  man  of  his  property  in  order  to  turn 
it  to  our  own  advantage  ?  Such,  at  least,  is  the  way  I  have 
been  taught  to  think  hitherto." 

"  That  will  not  always  hold  true,"  replied  the  monk ;  "for 
our  great  Molina  has  taught  us  that  '  the  rule  of  charity  does 
not  bind  us  to  deprive  ourselves  of  a  profit,  in  order  thereby 
to  save  our  neighbor  from  a  corresponding  loss.'  He  ad- 
vances this  in  corroboration  of  what  he  had  undertaken  to 
prove — '  that  one  is  not  bound  in  conscience  to  restore  the 
goods  which  another  had  put  into  his  hands  in  order  to  cheat 
his  creditors.'  Lessius  holds  the  same  opinion,  on  the  same 
ground.*  Allow  me  to  say,  sir,  that  you  have  too  little 
compassion  for  people  in  distress.  Our  fathers  have  had 
more  charity  than  that  comes  to  :  they  render  ample  justice 
to  the  poor,  as  well  as  the  rich ;  and,  I  may  add,  to  sinners 
as  well  as  saints.  For,  though  far  from  having  any  predilec- 
tion for  criminals,  they  do  not  scruple  to  teach  that  the 
property  gained  by  crime  may  be  lawfully  retained.  'No 
person,'  says  Lessius,  speaking  generally,  'is  bound,  either 
by  the  lavv*of  nature  or  by  positive  laws  (that  is,  by  any  law), 
to  make  restitution  of  what  has  been  gained  by  committing  a 
criminal  action,  such  as  adultery,  even  though  that  action  is 
contrary  to  justice.'  For,  as  Escobar  comments  on  this 
writer,  'though  the  property  which  a  woman  acquires  by 
adultery  is  certainly  gained  in  an  illicit  way,  yet  once  ac- 

*  Molina,  t.  ii.,  tr.  2.  disp.  338.  n.  8  ;  Lessius.  liv.  ii..  ch.  20.  dist.  19. 
n.  168. 


180  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

quired,  the  possession  of  it  is  lawful — quamvis  mulier  illicit^ 
acquisat,  licite  tamen  retinet  acquisita.'  It  is  on  this  prin- 
ciple that  the  most  celebrated  of  our  writers  have  formally 
decided  that  the  bribe  received  by  a  judge  f;om  one  of  the 
parties  who  has  a  bad  case,  in  order  to  procure  an  unjust  de- 
cision in  his  favor,  the  money  got  by  a  soldier  for  killing  a 
man,  or  the  emoluments  gained  by  infamous  crimes,  may  be 
legitimately  retained.  Escobar,  who  has  collected  this  from 
a  number  of  our  authors,  lays  down  this  general  rule  on  the 
point,  that  '  the  means  acquired  by  infamous  courses,  such 
as  murder,  unjust  decisions,  profligacy,  &c.,  are  legitimately 
possessed,  and  none  are  obliged  to  restore  them.'  And 
further,  '  they  may  dispose  of  what  they  have  received  for 
homicide,  profligacy,  &c_,  as  they  please ;  for  the  possession 
is  just,  and  they  have  acquired  a  propriety  in  the  fruits  of 
their  iniquity.'  "* 

"  My  dear  father,"  cried  I,  "  this  is  a  mode  of  acquisition 
which  I  never  heard  of  before ;  and  I  question  much  if  the 
law  wll  hold  it  good,  or  if  it  will  consider  assassination,  in- 
justice, and  adultery,  as  giving  valid  titles  to  property." 

"I  do  not  know  what  your  law-books  may  say  on  the 
point,"  returned  the  monk ;  "  but  I  know  well  that  our 
books,  which  are  the  genuine  rules  for  conscience,  bear  me 
out  in  what  I  say.  It  is  true  they  make  one  exception,  in 
which  restitution  is  positively  enjoined  ;  that  is,  in  the  case 
of  any  receiving  money  from  those  who  have  no  right  to  dis- 
pose of  their  property,  such  as  minors  and  monks.  '  Unless/ 
says  the  great  Molina,  '  a  woman  has  received  money  from 
one  who  cannot  dispose  of  it,  such  as  a  monk  or  a  minor — 
nisi  mulier  accepisset  ab  eo  qui  alienare  non  potest,  ut  a  reli- 
gioso  et  filio  familias.  In  this  case  she  must  give  back  the 
money.'  And  so  says  Escobar. "f 

"  May  it  please   your  reverence,"  said   I,   "  the  monks, 

*  Escobar,  tr.  3,  ex.  1,  n.  23,  tr.  5,  ex.  5,  n.  53. 
t  Molina,  1.  torn.  i. ;  De  Just.,  tr.2,  disp.  94 ;  Escobar,  tr.  1,  ex  8,  n. 
59,  tr.  3,  ex.  1,  n.  23. 


ILLICIT    GAINS.  181 

I  see,  are  more  highly  favored  in  this  way  than  other 
people." 

"  By  no  means,"  he  replied  ;  "  have  they  not  done  as 
much  generally  for  all  minors,  in  which  class  monks  may  be 
viewed  as  continuing  all  their  lives  ?  It  is  barely  an  act  of 
justice  to  make  them  an  exception ;  but  with  regard  to  all 
other  people,  there  is  no  obligation  whatever  to  refund  to 
them  the  money  received  from  them  for  a  criminal  action. 
For,  as  has  been  amply  shown  by  Lessius,  '  a  wicked  action 
may  have  its  price  fixed  in  money,  by  calculating  the  advan- 
tage received  by  the  person  who  orders  it  to  be  done,  and 
the  trouble  taken  by  him  who  carries  it  into  execution ;  on 
which  account  the  latter  is  not  bound  to  restore  the  money 
he  got  for  the  deed,  whatever  that  may  have  been — homi- 
cide, injustice,  or  a  foul  act'  (for  such  are  the  illustrations 
which  he  uniformly  employs  in  this  question) ;  '  unless  he 
obtained  the  money  from  those  having  no  right  to  dispose  of 
their  property.  You  may  object,  perhaps,  that  he  who  has 
obtained  money  for  a  piece  of  wickedness  is  sinning,  and 
therefore  ought  neither  to  receive  nor  retain  it.  But  I  reply, 
that  after  the  thing  is  done,  there  can  be  no  sin  either  in 
giving  or  in  receiving  payment  for  it.'  The  great  Filiutius 
enters  still  more  minutely  into  details,  remarking,  '  that  a 
man  is  bound  in  conscience,  to  vary  his  payments  for  actions 
of  this  sort,  according  to  the  different  conditions  of  the  in- 
dividuals who  commit  them,  and  some  may  bring  a  higher 
price  than  others.'  This  he  confirms  by  very  solid  argu- 
ments."* 

He  then  pointed  out  to  me,  in  his  authors,  some  things  of 
this  nature  so  indelicate  that  I  should  be  ashamed  to  repeat 
them ;  and  indeed  the  monk  himself,  who  is  a  good  man, 
would  have  been  horrified  at  them  himself,  were  it  not  for 

*  Tr.  31,  c.  9,  n.  231. — "Occultse  fornicariaj  debetur  pretium  in  con- 
•cientia.  et  multo  majore  ratione,  quam  publics.  Copia  enim  quam 
occulta  facit  mulier  sui  corporis.  multo  plus  valet  quum  ea  quam  pub- 
lica  facit  meretrix  ;  nee  ulla  est  lex  positiva  quae  reddit  earn  incapacern 
preJi.  Idem  dicendum  de  pretio  promisso  virgini,  conjugate,  moniali, 
et  cuicumque  alii.  Est  enim  omnium  eadern  ratio." 


182  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

the  profound  respect  which  he  entertains  for  his  fathers,  and 
which  makes  him  receive  with  veneration  everything  that 
proceeds  from  them.  Meanwhile,  I  held  my  tongue,  not  so 
much  with  the  view  of  allowing  him  to  enlarge  on  this  mat- 
ter, as  from  pure  astonishment  at  finding  the  books  of  men 
in  holy  orders  stuffed  with  sentiments  at  once  so  horrible,  so 
iniquitous,  and  so  silly.  He  went  on,  therefore,  without  in- 
terruption in  his  discourse,  concluding  as  follows : — 

"  From  these  premises,  our  illustrious  Molina  decides  the 
following  question  (and  after  this,  I  think  you  will  have  got 
enough) :  '  If  one  has  received  money  to  perpetrate  a  wicked 
action,  is  he  obliged  to  restore  it?  We  must  distinguish 
here,'  says  this  great  man  ;  '  if  he  has  not  done  the  deed,  he 
must  give  back  the  cash ;  if  he  has,  he  is  under  no  such  obli- 
gation !'  *  Such  are  some  of  our  principles  touching  restitu- 
tion. You  have  got  a  great  deal  of  instruction  to-day ;  and 
I  should  like,  now,  to  see  what  proficiency  you  have  made. 
Come,  then,  answer  me  this  question :  '  Is  a  judge,  who  has 
received  a  sum  of  money  from  one  of  the  parties  before  him, 
in  order  to  pronounce  a  judgment  in  his  favor,  obliged  to 
make  restitution  ?'  " 

"  You  were  just  telling  me  a  little  ago,  father,  that  he 
was  not." 

"  I  told  you  no  such  thing,"  replied  the  father ;  "  did  I 
express  myself  so  generally  ?  I  told  you  he  was  not  bound 
to  make  restitution,  provided  he  succeeded  in  gaining  the 
cause  for  the  party  who  had  the  wrong  side  of  the  question. 
But  if  a  man  has  justice  on  his  side,  would  you  have  him  to 
purchase  the  success  of  his  cause,  which  is  his  legitimate 
right  ?  You  are  very  unconscionable.  Justice,  look  you,  is 
a  debt  which  the  judge  owes,  and  therefore  he  cannot  sell 
it ;  but  he  cannot  be  said  to  owe  injustice,  and  therefore  he 
may  lawfully  receive  money  for  it.  All  our  leading  authors, 
accordingly,  agree  in  teaching  'that  though  a  judge  is  bound 
to  restore  the  money  he  had  received  for  doing  an  act  of  jus- 
tice, unless  it  was  given  him  out  of  mere  generosity,  he  is  not 

*  Quo'ed  by  Escobar,  tr.  3;  ex.  2,  n.  138. 


SORCERY.  183 

obliged  to  restore  what  he  has  received  from  a  man  in  whose 
favor-he  has  pronounced  an  unjust  decision.'  "* 

This  preposterous  decision  fairly  dumbfounded  me,  and 
while  I  was  musing  on  its  pernicious  tendencies,  the  monk 
had  prepared  another  question  for  me.  "  Answer  me  again," 
said  he,  "  with  a  little  more  circumspection.  Tell  me  now, 
'  if  a  man  who  deals  in  divination  is  obliged  to  make  resti- 
tution of  the  money  he  has  acquired  in  the  exercise  of  Bis 
art  ?'  " 

"  Just  as  you  please,  your  reverence,"  said  I. 

"  Eh  !  what ! — just  as  I  please !  Indeed,  but  you  are  a 
pretty  scholar !  It  would  seem,  according  to  your  way  of 
talking,  that  the  truth  depended  on  our  will  and  pleasure. 
I  see  that,  in  the  present  case,  you  would  never  find  it  out 
yourself :  so  I  must  send  you  to  Sanchez  for  a  solution  of 
the  problem — no  less  a  man  than  Sanchez.  In  the  first 
place,  he  makes  a  distinction  between  '  the  case  of  the  diviner 
who  has  recourse  to  astrology  and  other  natural  means, 
and  that  of  another  who  employs  the  diabolical  art.  In  the 
one  case,  he  says,  the  diviner  is  bound  to  make  restitution ; 
in  the  other  he  is  not.'  Now,  guess  which  of  them  is  the 
party  bound  ?" 

"  It  is  not  difficult  to  find  out  that,"  said  I. 

"  I  see  what  you  mean  to  say,"  he  replied. "  "  You  think 
that  he  ought  to  make  restitution  in  the  case  of  his  having 
employed  the  agency  of  demons.  But  you  know  nothing 
about  it ;  it  is  just  the  reverse.  '  If,'  says  Sanchez,  '  the 
sorcerer  has  not  taken  care  and  pains  to  discover,  by  means 
of  the  devil,  what  he  could  not  have  known  otherwise,  he 
must  make  restitution-^-si  nullam  operam  apposuit  ut  arte 
diaboli  id  sciret ;  but  if  he  has  been  at  that  trouble,  he  is  not 
obliged.'  " 

"  And  why  so,  father  ?" 

"  Don't  you  see  ?"  returned  he.     "  It  is  because  men  may 

*  Molina,  94,  99 ;  Reginald.  1.  10.  184 :  Filiutius.  tr.  31  :  Escobar, 
tr.  3 ;  Lessius,  1.  2,  14. 


184  PROVINCIAL   LETTEKS. 

truly  divine  by  the  xid  of  the  devil,  whereas  astrology  is  a 
mere  sham." 

"But,  sir,  should  the  devil  happen  not  to  till  the  truth 
(and  he  is  not  much  more  to  be  trusted  than  astrology),  the 
magician  must,  I  should  think,  for  the  same  reason,  be  obliged 
to  make  restitution  ?" 

"  Not  always,"  replied  the  monk  :  "  Distinguo,  as  Sanchez 
says,  here.  '  If  the  magician  be  ignorant  of  the  diabolic  art — 
si  sit  artis  diabolicce  ignarus — he  is  bound  to  restore  :  but  if  he 
is  an  expert  sorcerer,  and  has  done  all  in  his  power  to  arrive 
at  the  truth,  the  obligation  ceases  ;  for  the  industry  of  such  a 
magician  may  be  estimated  at  a  certain  sum  of  money.'  " 

"  There  is  some  sense  in  that,"  I  said ;  "  for  this  is  an  ex- 
cellent plan  to  induce  sorcerers  to  aim  at  proficiency  in  their 
art,  in  the  hope  of  making  an  honest  livelihood,  as  you  would 
say,  by  faithfully  serving  the  public." 

"  You  are  making  a  jest  of  it,  I  suspect,"  said  the  father : 
"  that  is  very  wrong.  If  you  were  to  talk  in  that  way  in 
places  where  you  were  not  known,  some  people  might  take  it 
amiss,  and  charge  you  with  turning  sacred  subjects  into  ridi- 
cule." 

"  That,  father,  is  a  charge  from  which  I  could  very  easily 
vindicate  myself;  for  certain  I  am  that  whoever  will  be  at  the 
trouble  to  examine  the  true  meaning  of  my  words  will  find 
my  object  to  be  precisely  the  reverse ;  and  perhaps,  sir,  before 
our  conversations  are  ended,  I  may  find  an  opportunity  of 
making  this  very  amply  apparent." 

"  Ho,  ho,"  cried  the  monk,  "  there  is  no  laughing  in  your 
head  now." 

"  I  confess,"  said  I,  "  that  the  suspicion  that  I  intended  to 
laugh  at  things  sacred,  would  be  as  painful  for  me  to  incur, 
as  it  would  be  unjust  in  any  to  entertain  it." 

"  I  did  not  say  it  in  earnest,"  returned  the  father ;  "  but 
let  us  speak  more  seriously." 

"  I  am  quite  disposed  to  do  so,  if  you  prefer  it ;  that  de- 
pends upon  you,  father.  But  I  must  say,  that  I  have  been 
astonished  to  see  your  friends  carrying  their  attentions  to  all 


ADVANTAGES    OF   THE    MAXIMS.  185 

rforts  and  conditions  of  men  so  far  as  even  to  regulate  the 
legitimate  gains  of  sorcerers." 

"  One  cannot  write  for  too  many  people,"  said  the  monk, 
"  nor  be  too  minute  in  particularizing  cases,  nor  repeat  the 
same  things  too  often  in  different  books.  You  may  be  con- 
vinced of  this  by  the  following  anecdote,  which  is.  related  by 
one  of  the  gravest  of  our  fathers,  as  you  may  well  suppose, 
seeing  he  is  our  present  Provincial — the  reverend  Father  Cel- 
lot :  '  We  know  a  person,'  says  he,  '  who  was  carrying  a 
large  sum  of  money  in  his  pocket  to  restore  it,  in  obedience 
to  the  orders  of  his  confessor,  and  who,  stepping  into  a  book- 
seller's shop  by  the  way,  inquired  if  there  was  anything 
new? — numquid  novi? — when  the  bookseller  showed  him  a 
book  on  moral  theology,  recently  published  ;  and  turning  over 
the  leaves  carelessly,  and  without  reflection,  he  lighted  upon 
a  passage  describing  his  own  case,  and  saw  that  he  was  un- 
der no  obligation  to  make  restitution :  upon  which,  relieved 
from  the  burden  of  his  scruples,  he  returned  home  with  a 
purse  no  less  heavy,  and  a  heart  much  lighter,  than  when  he 
left  it : — abjecta  scrupuli  sarcina,  retento  auri  pondere,  levior 
domvm  repeiiit.'* 

"  Say,  after  hearing  that,  if  it  is  useful  or  not  to  know  our 
maxims  ?  Will  you  laugh  at  them  now  ?  or  rather,  are  you 
not  prepared  to  join  with  Father  Cellot  in  the  pious  reflec- 
tion which  he  makes  on  the  blessedness  of  that  incident? 
'Accidents  of  that  kind,'  he  remarks,  'are,  with  God,  the 
effect  of  his  providence ;  with  the  guardian  angel,  the  effect 
of  his  good  guidance;  with  the  individuals  to  whom  they 
happen,  the  effect  of  their  predestination.  From  all  eternity, 
God  decided  that  the  golden  chain  of  their  salvation  should 
depend  on  such  and  such  an  author,  and  not  upon  a  hundred 
others  who  say  the  same  thing,  because  they  never  happen 
to  meet  with  them.  Had  that  man  not  written,  this  man 
would  not  have  been  saved.  All,  therefore,  who  find  fault 
with  the  multitude  of  our  authors,  we  would  beseech,  in  the 
bowels  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  beware  of  envying  others  those 

*  Cellot.  liv.  viii.,  de  la  Hierarch,  c.  16,  2. 


186  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

books  which  the  eternal  election  of  God  and  the  blood  of  Je- 
sus Christ  has  purchased  for  them  !'  Such  are  the  eloquent 
terms  in  which  this  learned  man  proves  so  successfully  the 
proposition  which  he  had  advanced,  namely,  'How  useful  it 
must  be  to  have  a  great  many  writers  on  moral  theology — 
quam  utlle  sit  de  theologia  morali  multos  scribere  /'  " 

"  Father,"  said  I,  "  I  shall  defer  giving  you  my  opinion  of 
that  passage  to  another  opportunity ;  in  the  mean  time,  I 
shall  only  say  that  as  your  maxims  are  so  useful,  and  as  it  is  so 
important  to  publish  them,  you  ought  to  continue  to  give  me 
further  instruction  in  them.  For  I  can  assure  you  that  the 
person  to  whom  I  send  them  shows  my  letters  to  a  great 
many  people.  Not  that  we  intend  to  avail  ourselves  of  them 
in  our  own  case ;  but  indeed  we  think  it  will  be  useful  for 
the  world  to  be  informed  about  them." 

"Very  well,"  rejoined  the  monk,  "you  see  I  do  not  con- 
ceal them ;  and,  in  continuation,  I  am  ready  to  furnish  you,  at 
our  next  interview,  with  an  account  of  the  comforts  and 
indulgences  which  our  fathers  allow,  with  the  view  of  render- 
ing salvation  easy,  and  devotion  agreeable ;  so  that  in  ad- 
dition to  what  you  have  hitherto  learned  as  to  particular  con- 
ditions of  men,  you  may  learn  what  applies  in  general  to  all 
classes,  and  thus  you  will  have  gone  through  a  complete 
course  of  instruction." — So  saying,  the  monk  took  his  leave 
of  me. — I  am,  <fec. 

P.  S. — I  have  always  forgot  to  tell  you  that  there  are  dif- 
ferent editions  of  Escobar.  Should  you  think  of  purchasing 
him,  I  would  advise  you  to  choose  the  Lyons  edition,  having 
on  the  title-page  the  device  of  a  lamb  lying  on  a  book  sealed 
with  seven  seals;  or  the  Brussels  edition  of  1651.  Both  of 
these  are  better  and  larger  than  the  previous  editions  pub- 
lished at  Lyons  in  the  years  1644  and  1646.* 

*  "  Since  all  this,  a  new  edition  has  been  printed  at  Paris,  by  Piget, 
more  correct  than  any  of  the  rest.  But  the  sentiments  of  Escobar  may 
be  still  better  ascertained  from  the  great  work  on  moral  theology,  print- 
ed at  Lyons."  (Note  in  Nicole's  edition  of  the  Letters.) 

I  may  avail  myself  of  this  space  to  remark,  that  not  one  of  the  charges 


FATHER  DANIELS  REPLY.  18 

brought  against  the  Jesuits  in  this  letter  has  b«"m  met  by  Fathei 
Daniel  in  his  celebrated  reply.  Indeed,  after  sotne  vain  efforts  to- con- 
tradict about  a  dozen  passages  in  the  letters,  he  leaves  avowedly  more 
than  a  hundred  without  daring  to  answer  them.  The  pretext  for  thus 
failing  to  perform  what  he  professed  to  do,  and  what  he  so  loudly  boasts, 
at  the  commencement,  of  his  being  able  to  do,  is  ingenious  enough. 
'•  You  will  easily  comprehend."  says  one  of  his  characteis,  "that  this 
confronting  of  texts  and  quotations  is  not  a  great  treat  for  a  man  of  my 
taste.  I  could  not  stand  this  disagreeable  labor  much  long"!."  (Entre- 
tiens  de  Cleandre  et  d'Eudoxe,  p.  277.)  We  reserve  rir  -mr-k»  on 
the  pretended  falsifications  charged  against  Pascal,  l;H  v«  \v?ret»  tf  his 
own  masterly  defence  of  himself  in  the  subseque 


LETTER  IX. 

FALSE  WORSHIP  OF  THE  VIRGIN  INTRODUCED  BY  THE  JESUITS — 
DEVOTION  MADE  EAST — THEIR  MAXIMS  ON  AMBITION,  ENVY, 
GLUTTONY,  EQUIVOCATION,  AND  MENTAL  RESERVATIONS — FEMALE 
DRESS GAMING HEARING  MASS. 

PARIS,  July  3,  1656! 

SIR, — I  shall  use  as  little  ceremony  with  you  as  the 
worthy  monk  did  with  me,  when  I  saw  him  last.  The- mo- 
ment he  perceived  me,  he  came  forward  with  his  eyes  fixed 
on  a  book  which  he  held  in  his  hand^and  accosted  me  thus  : 
"  '  Would  you  not  be  infinitely  obliged  to  any  one  who  should 
open  to  you  the  gates  of  paradise  ?  Would  you  not  give 
millions  of  gold  to  have  a  key  by  which  you  might  gain  ad- 
mittance whenever  you  thought  proper  ?  You  need  not  be 
at  such  expense  ;  here  is  one — here  are  a  hundred  for  much 
less  money.' " 

At  first  I  was  at  a  loss  to  know  whether  the  good  fathei 
was  reading,  or  talking  to  me,  but  he  soon  put  the  matter 
beyond  doubt  by  adding  : 

"  These,  sir,  are  the  opening  words  of  a  fine  book,  written 
by  Father  Barry  of  our  Society ;  for  I  never  give  you  any- 
thing of  my  own." 

"What  book  is  it?"  asked  I. 

"  Here  is  its  title,"  he  replied :  "  'Paradise  opened  to 
Philagio,  in  a  Hundred  Devotions  to  the  Mother  of  God,  eas- 
ily practised.' " 

"  Indeed,  father !  and  is  each  of  these  easy  devotions  a 
sufficient  passport  to  heaven  ?" 

"  It  is,"  returned  he.  "  Listen  to  what  follows  :  '  The  de- 
votions to  the  Mother  of  God,  which  you  will  find  in  this 
book,  are  so  many  celestial  keys,  which  will  open  wide  to 


DEVOTIOX    MADE    EASY.  189 

you  the  gates  of  paradise,  provided  you  practise  them ;'  and 
accordingly,  he  says  at  the  conclusion,  '  that  he  is  satisfied 
if  you  practise  only  one  of  them.'  " 

"  Pray,  then,  father,  do  teach  me  one  of  the  easiest  of 
them." 

"  They  are  all  easy,"  he  replied  ;  "  for  example — '  Sa- 
luting the  Holy  Virgin  when  you  happen  to  meet  her  image 
— saying  the  little  chaplet  of  the  pleasures  of  the  Virgin — 
fervently  pronouncing  the  name  of  Mary — commissioning  the 
angels  to  bow  to  her  for  us — wishing  to  build  her  as  many 
churches  as  all  the  monarchs  on  earth  have  done — bidding  her 
good  morrow  every  morning,  and  good  night  in  the  evening — 
saying  the  Ave  Maria  every  day,  in  honor  of  the  heart  of 
Mary' — which  last  devotion,  he  says,  possesses  the  additional 
virtue  of  securing  us  the  heart  of  the  Virgin."* 

"  But,  father,"  said  I,  "  only  provided  we  give  her  our  own 
in  return,  I  presume  ?" 

"That,"  he  replied,  "is  not  absolutely  necessary,  when 
a  person  is  too  much  attached  to  the  world.  Hear  Father 
Barry  :  '  Heart  for  heart  would,  no  doubt,  be  highly  proper ; 
but  yours  is  rather  too  much  attached  to  the  world,  too  much 
bound  up  in  the  creature,  so  that  I  dare  not  advise  you  to 
offer,  at  present,  that  poor  little  slave  which  you  call  your 
heart.'  And  so  he  contents  himself  with  the  Ave  Maria 
which  he  had  prescribed."! 

"  Why,  this  is  extremely  easy  work,"  said  I,  "  and  I  should 
really  think  that  nobody  will  be  damned  after  that." 

"  Alas  !"  said  the  monk,  "  I  see  you  have  no  idea  of  the 
hardness  of  some  people's  hearts.  There  are  some,  sir,  who 

*  fi  Towards  the  conclusion  of  the  tenth  century,  new  accessions 
were  made  to  the  worship  of  the  Virgin.  In  this  age,  (the  tenth  cen- 
tury) there  are  to  be  found  manifest  indications  of  the  instituuon  of  the 
rosary  and  croicn  (or  chaplet)  of  the  Virgin,  by  which  her  worshippers 
were  to  reckon  the  number  of  prayers  they  were  to  offer  to  this  new 
divinity.  The  rosary  consists  of  fifteen  repetitions  of  the  Lord's  Prayer, 
and  a  hundred  and  fitly  salutations  of  the  blessed  Vircrin  ;  while  "the 
crown  consists  in  six  or  seven  repetitions  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and 
seven  times  ten  salutations,  or  Ave  Marias."  (Mosheim  cent.  I.) 

t  These  are  the  devotions  presented  at  pp.  33,  59.  145,  156,  172,  258, 
430  of  the  first  edition. 


190  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

would  never  engage  to  repeat,  every  day,  even  these  simple 
words,  Good  day,  Good  evening,  just  because  such  a  prac- 
tice would  require  some  exertion  of  memory.  And,  accord- 
ingly, it  became  necessary  for  Father  Barry  to  furnish  them 
with  expedients  still  easier,  such  as  wearing  a  chaplet  night 
and  day  on  the  arm,  in  the  form  of  a  bracelet,  or  carrying 
about  one's  person  a  rosary,  or  an  image  of  the  Virgin.* 
'  And,  tell  me  now,'  as  Father  Barry  says, '  if  I  have  not  pro- 
vided you  with  easy  devotions  to  obtain  the  good  graces  of 
Mary  ?'  " 

"  Extremely  easy  indeed,  father,"  I  observed. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  it  is  as  much  as  could  possibly  be  done, 
and  I  think  should  be  quite  satisfactory.  For  he  must  be  a 
wretched  creature  indeed,  who  would  not  spare  a  single  mo- 
ment in  all  his  lifetime  to  put  a  chaplet  on  his  arm,  or  a  ro- 
sary in  his  pocket,  and  thus  secure  his  salvation ;  and  that, 
too,  with  so  much  certainty  that  none  who  have  tried  the 
experiment  have  ever  found  it  to  fail,  in  whatever  way  they 
may  have  lived  ;  though,  let  me  add,  we  exhort  people  not 
to  omit  holy  living.  Let  me  refer  you  to  the  example  of  this, 
given  at  p.  34  ;  it  is  that  of  a  female  who,  while  she  prac- 
tised daily  the  devotion  of  saluting  the  images  of  the  Virgin, 
spent  all  her  days  in  mortal  sin,  and  yet  was  saved  after  all, 
by  the  merit  of  that  single  devotion." 

"  And  how  so  ?"  cried  I. 

"  Our  Saviour,"  he  replied,  "  raised  her  up  again,  for  the 
eery  purpose  of  showing  it.  So  certain  it  is,  that  none  can 
perish  who  practise  any  one  of  these  devotions." 

"  My  dear  sir,"  I  observed,  "  I  am  fully  aware  that  the 
devotions  to  the  Virgin  are  a  powerful  mean  of  salvation,  and 
that  the  least  of  them,  if  flowing  from  the  exercise  of  faith 
and  charity,  as  in  the  case  of  the  saints  who  have  practised 
them,  are  of  great  merit ;  but  to  make  persons  believe  that, 
by  practising  these  without  reforming  their  wicked  lives,  they 
will  be  converted  by  them  at  the  hour  of  death,  or  that  God 
will  raise  them  up  again,  does  appear  calculated  rather  to 

•  See  the  devotions,  at  pp.  14,  396,  447. 


DEVOTION    MADE   EAST.  191 

keep  sinners  going  on  in  their  evil  courses,  by  deluding  them 
with  false  peace  and  fool-hardy  confidence,  than  to  draw  them 
off  from  sin  by  that  genuine  conversion  which  grace  alone 
can  effect."* 

%  "  What  does  it  matter,"  replied  the  monk,  "  by  what  road 
we  enter  paradise,  provided  we  do  enter  it  ?  as  our  famous 
Father  Binet,  formerly  our  provincial,  remarks  on  a  similar 
subject,  in  his  excellent  book  On  the  Mark  of  Predestination, 
'  Be  it  by  hook  or  by  crook,'  as  he  says, '  what  need  we  care, 
if  we  reach  at  last  the  celestial  city.'  " 

"  Granted,"  said  I ;  "  but  the  great  question  is,  if  we  will 
get  there  at  all  ?" 

"  The  Virgin  will  be  answerable  for  that,"  returned  he ; 
"  so  says  Father  Barry  in  the  concluding  lines  of  his  book : 
'  If,  at  the  hour  of  death,  the  enemy  should  happen  to  put 
in  some  claim  upon  you,  and  occasion  disturbance  in  the  little 
commonwealth  of  your  thoughts,  you  have  only  to  say  that 
Mary  will  answer  for  you,  and  that  he  must  make  his  appli- 
cation to  her.' " 

"  But,  father,  it  might  be  possible  to  puzzle  you,  were  one 
disposed  to  push  the  question  a  little  further.  Who,  for 
example.,  has  assured  us  that  the  Virgin  will  be  answerable 
in  this  case  ?" 

"  Father  Barry  will  be  answerable  for  her,"  he  replied. 
"  '  As  for  the  profit  and  happiness  to  be  derived  from  these 
devotions,'  he  says,  '  I  will  be  answerable  for  that ;  I  will 
stand  bail  for  the  good  Mother.'  " 

"  But,  father,  who  is  to  be  answerable  for  Father  Barry  ?" 

"  How !"  cried  the  monk ;  "  for  Father  Barry  ?  is  he  not  a 
member  of  our  Society  ?  and  do  you  need  to  be  told  that 

*  The  Jesuits  raised  a  great  outcry  against  Pascal  for  having,  in  this 
letter,  as  they  alleged,  turned  the  worship  of  the  Virgin  into  ridicule. 
Nicole  seriously  undertakes  his  defence,  and  draws  several  distinctions 
between  true  and  false  devotion  to  the  Virgin.  The  Mariolatry  or 
Mary-worship,  of  Pascal  and^the  Port-Royalists,  was  certainly  a  differ- 
ent sort  of  thing  from  that  practised  in  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  but  it  is 
sad  to  see  the  straits  to  which  these  sincere  devotees  were  reduced,  in 
their  attempts  to  reconcile  this  practice  with  the  honor  due  to  God  and 
his  Son.. 


192  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

our  Society  is  answerable  for  all  the  books  of  its  members  ? 
It  is  highly  necessary  and  important  for  you  to  know  about 
this.  There  is  an  order  in  our  Society,  by  which  all  book- 
sellers are  prohibited  from  printing  any  work  of  our  fathers 
without  the  approbation  of  our  divines  and  the  permission 
of  our  superiors.  This  regulation  was  passed  by  Henry  III., 
10th  May  1583,  and  confirmed  by  Henry  IV.,  20th  Decem- 
ber 1603,  and  by  Louis  XIII.,  14th  February  1612 ;  so  that 
the  whole  of  our  body  stands  responsible  for  the  publica- 
tions of  each  of  the  brethren.  This  is  a  feature  quite  pecu- 
liar to  our  community.  And,  in  consequence  of  this,  not  a 
single  work  emanates  from  us  which  does  not  breathe  the 
spirit  of  the  Society.  That,  sir,  is  a  piece  of  information 
quite  apropos."* 

"My  good  father,"  said  I,  "you  oblige  me  very  much,  and 
I  only  regret  that  I  did  not  know  this  sooner,  as  it  will  in- 
duce me  to  pay  considerably  more  attention  to  your  au- 
thors." 

"  I  would  have  told  you  sooner,"  he  replied,  "  had  an  op- 
portunity offered ;  I  hope,  however,  you  will  profit  by  the  in- 
formation in  future,  and,  in  the  mean  time,  let  us  prosecute 
our  subject.  The  methods  of  securing  salvation  which  I 
have  mentioned  are,  in  my  opinion,  very  easy,  very  sure,  and 
sufficiently  numerous ;  but  it  was  the  anxious  wish  of  our 
doctors  that  people  should  not  stop  short  at  this  first  step, 
where  they  only  do  what  is  absolutely  necessary  for  salva- 
tion, and  nothing  more.  Aspiring,  as  they  do  without  ceas- 
ing, after  the  greater  glory  of  God,f  they  sought  to  elevate 

*  Father  Daniel  makes  an. ingenious  attempt  to  take  off  the  force  of 
this  statement,  by  representing  it  as  no  more  than  what  is  done  by 
other  societies,  universities,  &c.  (Entretiens,  p.  32.)  But  while  these 
bodies  acted  in  good  faith  on  this  rule,  the  Jesuits  (as  Pascal  afterwards 
shows.  Letter  xiii.)  made  it  subservient  to  their  double  policy.  Pascal's 
point  was  gained  by  establishing  the  fact,  that  the  books  published  by 
the  Jesuits  had  the  imprimatur  of  the  Society :  and.  in  answer. to  all 
that  Daniel  has  said  on  the  point,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  ask,  Why  not 
try  the  simple  plan  of  denouncing  the  error  and  censuring  the  author? 
(See  Letter  v..  p.  117.) 

f  There  is  an  allusion  here  to  the  phrase  which  is  perpetually  occur- 
ring in  the  Constitutions  of  the  Jesuits,  "  Ad  major  sm  Dei  glo~iam— To 


DEVOTION    MADE    EASY.  193 

men  to  a  higher  pitch  of  piety ;  and  as  men  of  the  world 
are  generally  deterred  from  devotion  by  the  strange  ideas 
they  have  been  led  to  form  of  it  by  some  people,  we  have 
deemed  it  of  the  highest  importance  to  remove  this  obstacle 
,  which  meets  us  at  the  threshold.  In  this  department  Fa- 
ther Le  Moine  has  acquired  much  fame,  by  his  work  entitled 
DEVOTION  MADE  EASY,  composed  for  this  very  purpose.  The 
picture  which  he  draws  of  devotion  in  this  work  is  perfectly 
charming.  None  ever  understood  the  subject  before  him. 
Only  hear  what  he  says  in  the  beginning  of  his  work :  '  Vir- 
tue has  never  as  yet  been  seen  aright ;  no  portrait  of  her, 
hitherto  produced,  has  borne  the  least  verisimilitude.  It  is 
by  no  means  surprising  that  so  few  have  attempted  to  scale 
her  rocky  eminence.  She  has  been  held  up  as  a  cross-tem- 
pered dame,  whose  only  delight  is  in  solitude  ;  she  has  been 
associated  with  toil  and  sorrow ;  and,  in  short,  represented 
as  the  foe  of  sports  and  diversions,  which  are,  in  fact,  the 
flowers  of  joy  and  the  seasoning  of  life.'  " 

"But,  father,  I  am  sure,  I  have  heard  at  least,  that  there 
have  been  great  saints  who  led  extremely  austere  lives." 

"  No  doubt  of  that,"  he  replied ;  "  but  still,  to  use  the 
language  of  the  doctor,  '  there  have  always  been  a  number 
of  genteel  saints,  and  well-bred  devotees ;'  and  this  differ- 
ence in  their  manners,  mark  you,  arises  entirely  from  a  differ- 
ence of  humors.  '  I  am  far  from  -denying,'  says  my  author, 
'  that  there  are  devout  persons  to  be  met  with,  pale  and  mel 
ancholy  in  their  temperament,  fond  of  silence  and  retirement, 
with  phlegm  instead  of  blood  in  their  veins,  and  with  faces 
of  clay  ;  but  there  are  many  others  of  a  happier  complexion, 
and  who  possess  that  sweet  and  warm  humor,  that  genial 
and  rectified  blood,  which  is  the  true  stuff  that  joy  is  made  of.' 

"  You  see,"  resumed  the  monk,  "  that  the  love  of  silence 
and  retirement  is  not  common  to  all  devout  people ;  and  that, 
as  I  was  saying,  this  is  the  effect  rather  of  their  complexion 
than  their  piety.  Those  austere  manners  to  which  you  refer, 

the  greater  glory  of  God,"  which  is  the  reason  ostentatiously  paraded 
(r>t  almost  all  their  l.iwjg  and  customs. 
Q 


194  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

are,  in  fact,  properly  the  cLaracter  of  a  savage  and  barbarian, 
and,  accordingly,  you  will  find  them  ranked  by  Father  Le 
Moine  among  the  ridiculous  and  brutal  manners  of  a  moping 
idiot.  The  following  is  the  description  he  has  drawn  of  one 
of  these  in  the  seventh  book  of  his  Moral  Pictures :  '  He 
has  no  eyes  for  the  beauties  of  art  or  nature.  Were  he  to 
indulge  in  anything  that  gave  him  pleasure,  he  would  con- 
sider himself  oppressed  with  a  grievous  load.  On  festival 
days,  he  retires  to  hold  fellowship  with  the  dead.  He  de- 
lights in  a  grotto  rather  than  a  palace,  and  prefers  the  stump 
of  a  tree  to  a  throne.  As  to  injuries  and  affronts,  he  is  as 
insensible  to  them  as  if  he  had  the  eyes  and  ears  of  a  statue. 
Honor  and  glory  are  idols  with  whom  he  has  no  acquaintance, 
and  to  whom  he  has  no  incense  to  offer.  To  him  a  beautiful 
woman  is  no  better  than  a  spectre  ;  and  those  imperial  and 
commanding  looks — those  charming  tyrants  who  hold  so 
many  slaves  in  willing  and  chainless  servitude — have  no  more 
influence  over  his  optics  than  the  sun  over  those  of  owls,'  &c." 

"  Reverend  sir,"  said  I,  "  had  you  not  told  me  that  Father 
Le  Mbine  was  the  author  of  that  description,  I  declare  I 
would  have  guessed  it  to  be  the  production  of  some  profane 
fellow,  who  had  drawn  it  expressly  with  the  view  of  turning 
the  saints  into  ridicule.  For  if  that  is  not  the  picture  of  a 
man  entirely  denied  to  those  feelings  which  the  Gospel  obliges 
us  to  renounce,  I  confess  -that  I  know  nothing  of  the  mat- 
ter."* 

"You  may  now  perceive,  then,  the  extent  of  your  igno- 
rance," he  replied ;  "  for  these  are  the  features  of  a  feeble, 
uncultivated  mind,  '  destitute  of  those  virtuous  and  natural 
affections  which  it  ought  to  possess,'  as  Father  Le  Moine 
says  at  the  close  of  that  description.  Such  is  his  way  of 
teaching  '  Christian  virtue  and  philosophy,'  as  he  announces 
in  his  advertisement  ;  and,  in  truth,  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
this  method  of  treating  devotion  is  much  more  agreeable  to 

*  I  f  Rome  be  in  the  right,  Pascal's  notion  is  correct.  The  religion 
of  the  monastery  is  the  only  sort  of  piety  or  seriousness  known  to,  01 
sanctioned  by,  the  Romish  Church. 


VMBITION.  195 

the  taste  of  the  world  than  the  old  way  in  which  they  went 
to  work  before  our  times." 

"There  can  be  no  comparison  between  them,"  was  my  re- 
ply, "  and  I  now  begin  to  hope  that  you  will  be  as  good  as 
your  word." 

"  You  will  see  that  -better  by-and-by,"  returned  the  monk. 
"  Hitherto  I  have  only  spoken  of  piety  in  general,  but,  just 
to  show  you  more  in  detail  how  our  fathers  have  disencum- 
bered it  of  its  toils  and  troubles,  would  it  not  be  most  con- 
soling to  the  ambitious  to  learn  that  they  may  maintain  gen- 
uine devotion  along  with  an  inordinate  love  of  greatness  ?" 

"  What,  father !  even  though  they  should  run  to  the  ut- 
most excess  of  ambition  ?" 

"  Yes,"  he  replied  ;  "  for  this  would  be  only  a  venial  sin, 
unless  they  sought  after  greatness  in  order  to  offend  God  and 
injure  the  State  more  effectually.  Now  venial  sins  do  not 
preclude  a  man  from  being  devout,  as  the  greatest  saints  are 
not  exempt  from  them.*  '  Ambition,'  says  Escobar,  '  which 
consists  in  an  inordinate  appetite  for  place  and  power,  is  of 
itself  a  venial  sin ;  but  when  such  dignities  are  coveted  for 
the  purpose  of  hurting  the  commonwealth,  or  having  more 
opportunity  to  offend  God,  these  adventitious  circumstances 
render  it  mortal.'  " 

"  Very  savory  doctrine,  indeed,  father." 

"And  is  it  not  still  more  savory,"  continued  the  monk, 
"  for  misers  to  be  told,  by  the  same  authority,  '  that  the  rich 
are  not  guilty  of  mortal  sin  by  refusing  to  give  alms  out  of 
their  superfluity  to  the  poor  in  the  hour  of  their  greatest 
need  ? — scio  in  gravi  pauperum  necessitate  divites  non  dando 
super fiua,  non  peccare  mortaliter.' " 

"  Why  truly,"  said  I,  "  if  that  be  the  case,  I  give  up  all 
pretension  to  skill  in  the  science  of  sins." 

"  To  make  you  still  more  sensible  of  this,"  returned  he, 
"you  have  been  accustomed  to  think,  I  suppose,  that  a  good 

*  The  Romish  distinction  of  sins  into  venial  and  mortal,  afforded  too 
fair  a  pretext  for  such  sophistical  conclusions  to  be  overlooked  by  Jes- 
uitical casuists. 


196  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

opinion  of  one's  self,  and  a  complacency  in  one's  own  works, 
is  a  most  dangerous  sin  ?  Now,  will  you  not  be  surprised  if 
I  can  show  you  that  such  a  good  opinion,  even  though  there 
should  be  no  foundation  for  it,  is  so  far  from  being  a  sin,  that 
it  is,  on  the  contrary,  the  gift  of  God  ?" 

"  Is  it  possible,  father  ?'•' 

"  That  it  is,"  said  the  monk ;  "  and  our  good  Father 
Garasse*  shows  it  in  his  French  Avork,  entitled  Summary  of 
the  Capital  Truths  of  Religion :  '  It  is  a  result  of  commu- 
tative justice  that  all  honest  labor  should  find  its  recompense 
either  in  praise  or  in  self-satisfaction.  When  men  of  good 
talents  publish  some  excellent  work,  they  are  justly  remune- 
rated by  public  applause.  But  when  a  man  of  weak  parts 
has  wrought  hard  at  some  worthless  production,  and  fails  to 
obtain  the  praise  of  the  public,  in  order  that  his  labor  may 
not  go  without  its  reward,  God  imparts  to  him  a  personal 
satisfaction,  .which  it  would  be  worse  than  barbarous  injus- 
tice to  envy  him.  It  is  thus  that  God,  who  is  infinitely 
just,  has  given  even  to  frogs  a  certain  complacency  in  their 
own  croaking.'  " 

"  Very  fine  decisions  in  favor  of  vanity,  ambition,  and  ava- 
rice !"  cried  I ;  "  and  envy,  father,  will  it  be  more  difficult  to 
find  an  excuse  for  it  ?" 

"  That  is  a  delicate  point,"  he  replied.  "  We  require  to 
make  use  here  of  Father  Bauny's  distinction,  which  he  lays 
down  in  his  Summary  of  Sins :  '  Envy  of  the  spiritual  good 
of  our  neighbor  is  mortal,  but  envy  of  his  temporal  good  is 
only  venial.'  " 

"  And  why  so,  father  ?" 

"  You  shall  hear,"  said  he.  "  '  For  the  good  that  consists 
in  temporal  things  is  so  slender,  and  so  insignificant  in  rela- 

*  Francois  Garasse  was  a  Jesuit  of  Angouleme;  he  died  in  1631. 
He  was  much  followed  as  a  preacher,  his  sermons  being  copiously  in- 
terlarded with  buffoonery.  His  controversial  works  are  full  of  fire  and 
fury;  and  his  theological  Summary,  to  which  Pascal  here  refers, 
abounds  with  eccentricities.  It  deserves  to  he  mentioned,  as  some  off- 
set to  the  folly  of  this  writer,  that  Father  Garasse  lost  his  life  in  conse- 
quence of  his  attentions  to  his  countrymen  who  were  infected  with  ihe 
plague. 


6LOTH.  197 

tion  to  heaven,  that  it  is  of  no  consideration  in  the  eyes  of 
God  and  his  saints.'  " 

"  But,  father,  if  temporal  good  is  so  slender,  and  of  so  little 
consideration,  how  do  you  come  to  permit  men's  lives  to  be 
taken  away  in  order  to  preserve  it  ?"* 

"  You  mistake  the  matter  entirely,"  returned  the  monk ; 
"  you  were  told  that  temporal  good  was  of  no  consideration 
in  the  eyes  of  God,  but  not  in  the  eyes  of  men." 

"That  idea  never  occurred  to  me,"  I  replied;  "and  now, 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that,  in  virtue  of  these  same  distinctions, 
the  world  will  get  rid  of  mortal  sins  altogether." 

"  Do  not  flatter  yourself  with  that,"  said  the  father ; 
"  there  are  still  such  things  as  mortal  sins — there  is  sloth, 
for  example." 

"  lx"ay,  then,  father  dear  !"  I  exclaimed,  "  after  that,  fare- 
well to  all  '  the  joys  of  life  !'  " 

"  Stay,"  said  the  monk,  "  when  you  have  heard  Escobar's 
definition  of  that  vice,  you  will  perhaps  change  your  tone : 
'  Sloth,'  he  observes, '  lies  in  grieving  that  spiritual  things  are 
spiritual,  as  if  one  should  lament  that  the  sacraments  are  the 
sources  of  grace  ;  which  would  be  a  mortal  sin.'  "  . 

"  O  my  dear  sir !"  cried  I,  "  I  don't  think  that  anybody 
ever  took  it  into  his  head  to  be  slothful  in  that  way." 

"  And  accordingly,"  he  replied,  "  Escobar  afterwards  re- 
marks :  '  I  must  confess  that  it  is  very  rarely  that  a  person 
falls  into  the  sin  of  sloth.'  You  see  now  how  important  it  is 
to  define  things  properly  ?" 

"  Yes,  father,  and  this  brings  to  my  mind  your  other  defi- 
nitions about  assassinations,  ambuscades,  an$  superfluities. 
But  why  have  you  not  extended  your  method  to  all  cases, 
and  given  definitions  of  all  vices  in  your  way;  so  that  people 
may  no  longer  sin  in  gratifying  themselves?" 

"It  is  not  always  essential,"  he  replied,  "to  accomplish 

that  purpose  by  changing  the  definitions  of  things.     I  may 

illustrate  this  by  referring  to  the  subject  of  good  cheer,  which 

is  accounted  one  )f  the  greatest  pleasures  of  life,  and  which. 

*  See  before,  Letter  vii.,  p.  159. 


193  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

Escobar  thus  sanctions  in  his  '  Practice  according  to  our  So- 
ciety :'  '  Is  it  allowable  for  a  person  to  eat  and  drink  to  reple- 
tion, unnecessarily,  and  solely  for  pleasure  ?  Certainly  he  may, 
according  to  Sanchez,  provided  he  does  not  thereby  injure  his 
health  ;  because  the  natural  appetite  may  be  permitted  to 
enjoy  its  proper  functions.'  "* 

"  Well,  father,  that  is  certainly  the  most  complete  pas- 
sage, and  the  most  .finished  maxim  in  the  whole  of  your 
moral  system  !  What  comfortable  inferences  may  be  drawn 
from  it !  Why,  and  is  gluttony,  then,  not  even  a  venial 
sin  ?" 

"  Not  in  the  shape  I  have  just  referred  to,"  he  replied  ; 
"  but,  according  to  the  same  author,  it  would  be  a  venial  sin 
'  were  a  person  to  gorge  himself,  unnecessarily,  with  eating 
and  drinking,  to  such  a  degree  as  to  produce  vomiting.'f 
So  much  for  that  point.  I  would  now  say  a  little  about  the 
facilities  we  have  invented  for  avoiding  sin  in  worldly  conver- 
sations and  intrigues.  One  of  the  most  embarrassing  of  these 
cases  is  how  to  avoid  telling  lies,  particularly  when  one  is 
anxious  to  induce  a  belief  in  what  is  false.  In  such  cases, 
our  doctrine  of  equivocations  has  been  found  of  admirable 
service,  according  to  which,  as  Sanchez  has  it,  '  it  is  permit- 
ted to  use  ambiguous  terms,  leading  people  to  understand 
them  in  another  sense  from  that  in  which  we  understand 
them  ourselves.'  "J 

"  I  know  that  already,  father,"  said  I. 

"We  have  published  it  so  often,"  continued  he,  "that  at 
length,  it  seems,  everybody  knows  of  it.  But  do  you  know 
•what  is  to  be  done  when  no  equivocal  words  can  be  got  ?" 

"  No,  father." 

"  I  thought  as  much,"  said  the  Jesuit ;  "  this  is  something 
new,  sir  :  I  mean  the  doctrine  of  mental  reservations.  '  A 


*  "  An  comedere  et  liber e  usque  ad  satietatem  absque  necessitate  ob  solam 
voluptatem,  sit  peccatum  ?  Cum,  Sanctio  negative  respnndeo,  modo  non 
obsit  valetudini,  quid  licite  potest  appetitus  natitralis  suis  actibus  frui." 
(N. 102  ) 

f  "  Si  quis  se  usque  ad  vomitum  ingurgitet."     (Esc.,  n.  56.) 

j  Op.  mor.,  p.  2,  1.  3,  c.  6,  n.  13. 


MENTAL    RESERVATIONS.  199 

man  may  swear,'  as  Sanchez  says  in  the  same  place,  'that  he 
never  did  such  a  thing  (though  he  actually  did  it),  meaning 
•within  himself  that  he  did  not  do  so  on  a  certain  day,  or  before 
he  was  born,  or  understanding  any  other  such  circumstance, 
while  the  words  which  he  employs  have  no  such  sense  as 
w;>uld  discover  his  meaning.  And  this  is  very  convenient  in 
many  cases,  and  quite  innocent,  when  necessary  or  conducive 
to  one's  health,  honor,  or  advantage.'  " 

"  Indeed,  father  !  is  that  not  a  lie,  and  perjury  to  boot  ?" 

"  No,"  said  the  father ;  "  Sanchez  and  Filiutius  prove 
that  it  is  not ;  for,  says  the  latter,  '  it  is  the  intention  that 
determines  the  quality  of  the  action.'*  And  he  suggests  a 
still  surer  method  for  avoiding  falsehood,  which  is  this : 
After  saying  aloud,  /  swear  that  I  have  not  done  that,  to 
add,  in  a  low  voice,  to-day  ;  or  after  saying  aloud,  /  swear, 
to  interpose  in  a  whisper,  that  I  say,  and  then  continue 
aloud,  that  I  have  done  that.  This,  you  perceive,  is  telling 
the  truth. "f 

"I  grant  it,"  said  I;  "it  might  possibly,  however,  be 
found  to  be  telling  the  truth  in  a  low  key,  and  falsehood  in  a 
loud  one ;  besides,  I  should  be  afraid  that  many  people  might 
not  have  sufficient  presence  of  mind  to  avail  themselves  of 
these  methods." 

"  Our  doctors,"  replied  the  Jesuit,  "  have  taught,  in  the 
same  passage,  for  the  benefit  of  such  as  might  not  be  expert 
in  the  use  of  these  reservations,  that  no  more  is  required  of 

*  Tr.  25,  chap.  11,  n.  331,  328. 

t  The  method  by  which  Father  Daniel  evades  this  charge  is  truly 
Jesuitical.  First,  he  attempts  to  involve  the  question  in  a  cloud  of 
difficulties,  by  supposing  extreme  cases,  in  which  equivocation  may  be 
allowed  to  preserve  life,  &c.  He  has  then  the  assurance  to  quote 
Scripture  in  defence  of  the  practice,  referring  to  the  equivocations  of 
Abraham  which  he  vindicates;  to  those  of  Tobit  and  the  angel  Ra- 
phfifl.  which  he  applauds;  and  even  to  thesnyingsof  our  blessed  Lord, 
which  lie  charges  with  equivocation !  (Entretiens,  pp.  378,  382.) 
Even  Bossuet  was  nshamed  of  this  abominable  maxim.  •'  I  know  noth- 
ing "  he  says  speaking  of  Sanchez.  "  more  pernicious  in  morality,  than 
the  opinion  of  that  Jesuit  in  regard  to  an  oath  ;  he  maintains  that  the 
intention  is  necessary  to  an  oath,  without  wnich  in  giving  a  false  an- 
swer to  a  judge,  when  questioned  at  the  bar,  one  is  not  capable  of  per- 
jury." (Journal  de  1'Abbe  le  Dieu,  apud  Dissertation  sur  la  foi  qui  e& 
due  au  teinoignage  de  Pascal;  &c.,  p.  50.) 


ZUU  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

them,  to  avoid  lying,  than  simply  to  say  that  they  have  not 
done  what  they  have  done,  provided  '  thev  have,  in  general, 
the  intention  of  giving  to  their  language  the  sense  which  an 
able-man  would  give  to  it.'  Be  candid,  now,  and  confess  if 
you  have  not  often  felt  yourself  embarrassed,  in  consequence 
of  not  knowing  this  ?" 

"  Sometimes,"  said  I. 

"And  will  you  not  also  acknowledge,"  continued  he, 
"that  it  would  often  prove  very  convenient  to  be  absolved  in 
conscience  from  keeping  certain  engagements  one  may  have 
made?" 

"  The  most  convenient  thing  in  the  world  !"  I  replied. 

"  Listen,  then,  to  the  general  rule  laid  down  by  Escobar : 
'  Promises  are  not  binding,  when  the  person  in  making  them 
had  no  intention  to  bind  himself.  Now,  it  seldom  happens 
that  any  have  such  an  intention,  unless  when  they  confirm 
their  promises  by  an  oath  or  contract ;  so  that  when  one  sim- 
ply says,  /  will  do  it,  he  means  that  he  will  do  it  if  he  does 
not  change  his  mind ;  for  he  does  not  wish,  by  saying  that, 
to  deprive  himself  of  his  liberty.'  He  gives  other  rules  in 
the  same  strain,  which  you  may  consult  for  yourself,  and 
tells  us,  in  conclusion,  '  that  all  this  is  taken  from  Molina 
and  our  other  authors,  and  is  therefore  settled  beyond  all 
doubt.' " 

"My  dear  father,"  I  observed,  "I  had  no  idea  that  the 
direction  of  the  intention  possessed  the  power  of  rendering 
promises  null  and  void." 

"You  must  perceive,"  returned  he,  "what  facility  this 
affords  for  prosecuting  the  business  of  life.  But  what  has 
given  us  the  most  trouble  has  been  to  regulate  the  commerce 
between  the  sexes ;  our  fathers  being  more  chary  in  the  mat- 
ter of  chastity.  Not  but  that  they  have  discussed  questions 
of  a  very  curious  and  very  indulgent  character,  particularly 
in  reference  to  married  and  betrothed  persons." 

At  this  stage  of  the  conversation  I  was  made  acquainted 
with  the  most  extraordinary  questions  you  can  well  imagine. 
He  gave  me  enough  of  them  to  fill  many  letters ;  but  as  you 


FEMALE    DRESS.  201 

show  my  communications  to  all  sorts  of  persons,  and  rs  I  do 
not  choose  to  be  the  vehicle  of  such  reading  to  those  who 
would  make  it  the  subject  of  diversion,  I  must  decline  even 
giving  the  quotations. 

The  only  thing  to  which  I  can  venture  to  allude,  out  of  all 
the  books  which  he  showed  me,  and  these  in  French,  too,  is 
a  passage  which  you  will  find  in  Father  Bauny's  Summary,  p. 
165,  relating  to  certain  little  familiarities,  which,  provided 
the  intention  is  well  directed,  he  explains  "  as  passing  for 
gallant ;"  and  you  will  be  surprised  to  find,  at  p.  148,  a  prin- 
ciple of  morals,  as  to  the  power  which  daughters  have  to  dis- 
pose of  their  persons  without  the  leave  of  their  relatives, 
couched  in  these  terms :  "  When  that  is  done  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  daughter,  although  the  father  may  have  reason 
to  complain,  it  does  not  follow  that  she,  or  the  person  to 
whom  she  has  sacrificed  her  honor,  has  done  him  any  wrong, 
or  violated'  the  rules  of  justice  in  regard  to  him ;  for  the 
daughter  has  possession  of  her  honor,  as  well  as  of  her  body, 
and  can  do  what  she  pleases  with  them,  bating  death  or  mu- 
tilation of  her  members."  Judge,  from  that  specimen,  of  the 
rest.  It  brings  to  my  recollection  a  passage  from  a  Heathen 
poet,  a  much  better  casuist,  it  would  appear,  than  these  rev- 
erend doctors  ;  for  he-  says,  "  that  the  person  of  a  daughter 
does  not  belong  wholly  to  herself,  but  partly  to  her  father 
and  partly  to  her  mother,  without  whom  she  cannot  dispose 
of  it,  even  in  marriage."  And  I  am  much  mistaken  if  there 
is  a  single  judge  in  the  land  who  would  not  lay  down  as  law 
the  very  reverse  of  this  maxim  of  Father  Bauny. 

This  is  all  I  dare  tell  you  of  this  part  of  our  conversation, 
which  lasted  so  long  that  I  was  obliged  to  beseech  the  monk 
to  change  the  subject.  He  did  so,  and  proceeded  to  enter- 
tain me  with  their  regulations  about  female  attire. 

"  We  shall  not  speak,"  he  said,-  "of  those  who  are  actua- 
ted by  impure  intentions  ;  but  as  to  others,  Escobar  remarks, 
that  '  if  the  woman  adorn  herself  without  any  evil  intention, 
but  merely  to  gratify  a  natural  inclination  to  vanity — ob  na- 
turalem  fastus  inclinationem — this  is  only  a  venial  sin,  or 
9* 


202  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

rather  no  sin  at  all.'  And  Father  Bauny  maintains,  that 
'  even  though  the  woman  knows  the  bad  effect  which  her  care 
in  adorning  her  person  may  have  upon  the  virtue  of  those 
who  may  beheld  her,  all  decked  out  in  rich  and  precious 
attire,  she  would  not  sin  in  so  dressing.'*  And  among  oth- 
ers, he  cites  our  Father  Sanchez  as  being  of  the  same  mind." 

"  But,  father,  what  do  your  authors  say  to  those  passages  of 
Scripture  which  so  strongly  denounce  everything  of  that  sort  ?" 

"  Lessius  has  well  met  that  objection,"  said  the  monk,  "  by 
observing,  '  that  these  passages  of  Scripture  have  the  force 
of  precepts  only  in  regard  to  the  women  of  that  period,  who 
were  expected  to  exhibit,  by  their  modest  demeanor,  an  ex- 
ample of  edification  to  the  Pagans.'  " 

"  And  where  did  he  find  that,  father  ?" 

"  It  does  not  matter  where  he  found  it,"  replied  he ;  "  it  is 
enough  to  know  that  the  sentiments  of  these  great  men  are 
always  probable  of  themselves.  It  deserves  to  'be  noticed, 
however,  that  Father  Le  Moine  has  qualified  this  general  per- 
mission ;  for  he  will  on  no  account  allow  it  to  be  extended  to 
the  old  ladies.  '  Youth,'  he  observes,  '  is  naturally  entitled 
to  adorn  itself,  nor  can  the  use  of  ornament  be  condemned  at 
an  age  which  is  the  flower  and  verdure  of  life.  But  there  it 
should  be  allowed  to  remain :  it  would  be  strangely  out  of 
season  to  seek  for  roses  on  the  snow.  The  stars  alone  have 
a  right  to  be  always  dancing,  for  they  have  the  gift  of  per- 
petual youth.  The  wisest  course  in  this  matter,  therefore, 
for  old  women,  would  be  to  consult  good  sense  and  a  good 
mirror,  to  yield  to  decency  and  necessity,  and  to  retire  at  the 
first  approach  of  the  shades  of  night.'  "f 

"  A  most  judicious  advice,"  I  observed. 

*  Esc.  tr.  I,  ex.  8 ;  Summary  of  Sins.  c.  46,  p.  1094. 

f  "  They  had  their  Father  Le  Moine,"  said  Cleandre,  "  and  I  am  sur- 
prised they  did  not  oppose  him  to  Pascal.  That  father  had  a  lively 
imagination  and  &Jlorid,  brilliant  style ;  he  stood  high  among  polished 
society,  and  his  Apology  written  against  the  hook  entitled  '  The  Moral 
Theology  of  the  Jesuits,'  was  hardly  less  popular  than  his  Currycomb 
for  the  Jansenist  Pegasus."  "  The  Society  thought,  perhaps,"  replied 
Eudoxus,  "  that  he  could  not  easily  catch  the  delicate  and  at  the  same 
time  easy  style  of  Pascal.  It  was  Father  Le  Moine's  failing,  to  embel- 


HEARING    MASS.  208 

"But,"  continued  the  monk,  "just  to  show  you  how  care- 
ful our  fathers  are  about  everything  you  can  think  of,  1  may 
mention  that,  after  granting  the  ladies  permission  to  gamble, 
and  foreseeing  that,  in  many  cases,  this  license  would  be  of 
little  avail  unless  J,hey  had  something  to  gamble  with,  they 
have  established  another  maxim  in  their  favor,  which  will  be 
found  in  Escobar's  chapter  on  larceny,  n.  13  :  'A  wife,'  says 
he,  'may  gamble,  and  for  this  purpose  may  pilfer  money 
from  her  husband.'  " 

"  Well,  father,  that  is  capital !" 

**  There  are  many  other  good  things  besides  that,"  said  the 
father ;  "  but  we  mast  waive  them,  and  say  a  little  about 
those  more  important  maxims,  which  facilitate  the  practice  of 
holy  things — the  manner  of  attending  mass,  for  example. 
On  this  subject  our  great  divines,  Gaspard  Hurtado,  and 
Coninck,  have  taught  '  that  it  is  quite  sufficient  to  be  present 
at  mass  in  body,  though  we  may  be  absent  in  spirit,  provided 
we  maintain  an  outwardly  respectful  deportment.'  Vasquez 
goes  a  step  further,  maintaining  '  that  one  fulfils  the  precept 
of  hearing  mass,  even  though  one  should  go  with  no  such 
intention  at  all.'  All  this  is  repeatedly  laid  down  by  Esco- 
bar, who,  in  one  passage,  illustrates  the  point  by  the  exam- 
ple of  those  who  are  dragged  to  mass  by  force,  and  who  put 
on  a  fixed  resolution  not  to  listen  to  it." 

"Truly,  sir,"  said  I,  "had  any  other  person  told  me  that, 
I  would  not  have  believed*it." 

"  In  good  sooth,"  he  replied,  "  it  requires  all  the  support 
which  the  authority  of  these  great  names  can  lend  it ;  and 
so  does  the  following  maxim  by  the  same  Escobar,  '  that 
even  a  wicked  intention,  such  as  that  of  ogling  the  womenl 
joined  to  that  of  hearing  mass  rightly,  does  not  hinder  a  mail 
from  fulfilling  the  service.'*  But  another  very  convenient! 

lish  all  he  said,  to  be  always  aiming  at  something  witty,  and  never  to 
speak  simply.  Perhaps,  too,  he  did  not  feel  himself  equal  for  the  com- 
bat and  did  not  like  to  commit  himself."  (Entretiens  de  Cleandre  et 
d'Eudoxe,  p.  78.) 

*  "  Nee  obest  alia  prava  intentio.  ut  aspiciendi  libidinose  fceminas." 
(Esc.  tr.l,  ex.  11,  n.  31.) 


204  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

device,  suggested  by  our  learned  brother  Turrian,'*  is,  that 
'  one  may  hear  the  half  of  a  mass  from  one  priest,  and  the 
other  half  from  another;  and  that  it  makes  no  difference 
though  he  should  hear  first  the  conclusion  of  the  one,  and  then 
the  commencement  of  the  other.'  I  might  also  mention  that 
it  has  been  decided  by  several  of  our  doctors,  to  be  lawful 
4  to  hear  the  two  halves  of  a  mass  at  the  same  time,  from  the 
lips  of  two  different  priests,  one  of  whom  is  commencing  the 
mass,  while  the  other  is  at  the  elevation ;  it  being  quite  pos- 
sible to  attend  to  both  parties  at  once,  and  two  halves  of  a 
mass  making  a  whole — duce  medietates  unam  missam  consti- 
tuunt.'\  '  From  all  which,'  says  Escobar,  '  I  conclude,  that 
you  may  hear  mass  in  a  very  short  period  of  time ;  if,  for 
example,  you  should  happen  to  hear  four  masses  going  on-  a4 
the  same  time,  so  arranged  that  when  the  first  is  at  the  com- 
mencement, the  second  is  at  the  gospel,  the  third  at  the  con- 
secration, and  the  last  at  the  communion.'  " 

"  Certainly,  father,  according  to  that  plan,  one  may  hear 
mass  any  day  at  Notre  Dame  in  a  twinkling." 

"  Well,"  replied  he,  "  that  just  shows  how  admirably  we 
have  succeeded  in  facilitating  the  hearing  of  mass.  But  I 
am  anxious  now  to  show  you  how  we  have  softened  the  use 
of  the  sacraments,  and  particularly  that  of  penance.  It  is 
here  that  the  benignity  of  our  fathers  shines  in  its  truest 
splendor  ;  and  you  will  be  really  astonished  to  find  that  de- 
votion, a  thing  which  the  world  is  so  much  afraid  of,  should 
have  been  treated  by  our  doctors  with  such  consummate 
skill,  that,  to  use  the  words  of  Father  Le  Moine,  in  his  Devo- 
tion made  Easy,  '  demolishing  the  bugbear  which  the  devil 
had  placed  at  its  threshold,  they  have  rendered  it  easier  than 
vice,  and  more  agreeable  than  pleasure ;  so  that,  in  fact, 
simply  to  live  is  incomparably  more  irksome  than  to  live  well. 
Is  that  not  a  marvellous  change,  now  ?" 

"Indeed,  father,  I  cannot  help  telling  you  a  bit  of  my 

*  Select.,  p.  2,  d.  16,  Sub.  7. 

t  Bauny,  Hurtado,  Azor.  &c.  Escobar,  "  Practice  for  Hearing  Masi 
according  to  our  Society."  Lyons  edition. 


HEARING    MASS.  205 

mind  :  I  am  sadly  afraid  that  you  have  oversl  ot  the  mark, 
and  that  this  indulgence  of  yours  will  shock  more  people 
than  it  will  attract.  The  mass,  for  example,  is  a  thing  so 
grand  and  so  holy,  that,  in  the  eyes  of  a  great  many,  it 
•would  be  enough  to  blast  the  credit  of  your  doctors  forever, 
to  show  them  how  you  have  spoken  of  it." 

"  With  a  certain  class,"  replied  the  monk,  "  I  allow  that 
may  be  the  case ;  but  do  you  not  know  that  we  accommodate 
ourselves  to  all  sorts  of  persons  ?  You  seem  to  have  lost  all 
recollection  of  what  I  have  repeatedly  told  you  on  this  point. 
The  first  time  you  are  at  leisure,  therefore,  I  propose  that 
we  make  this  the  theme  of  our  conversation,  deferring  till 
then  the  lenitives  we  have  introduced  into  the  confessional. 
I  promise  to  make  you  understand  it  so  well  that  you  will 
never  forget  it." 

With  these  words  we  parted,  so  that  our  next  conversa- 
tion, I  presume,  will.,  turn  on  the  policy  of  the  Society. — I 
am,  &c. 

P.  S. — Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  seen  "  Paradise 
Opened  by  a  Hundred  Devotions  easily  Practised,"  by  Father 
Barry ;  and  also  the  "  Mark  of  Predestination,"  by  Father 
Binet ;  both  of  them  pieces  well  worth  the  seeing. 


LETTER  X. 

PALLIATIVES  APPLIED  BY  THE  JESUITS  TO  THE  SACRAMENT  OF 
PENANCE,  IN  THEIR  MAXIMS  REGARDING  CONFESSION,  SATISFAC- 
TION, ABSOLUTION,  PROXIMATE  OCCASIONS  OF  SIN,  CONTRITION, 
AND  THE  LOVE  OF  GOD. 

PARIS,  August  2,  1656. 

SIR, — I  have  not  come  yet  to  the  policy  of  the  Society, 
but  shall  first  introduce  you  to  one  of  its  leading  principles. 
I  refer  to  the  palliatives  which  they  have  applied  to  con- 
fession, and  "which  are  unquestionably  the  best  of  all  the 
schemes  they  have  fallen  upon  to  "  attract  all  and  repel 
none."  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  know  something  of  this 
before  going  any  further;  and,  accordingly,  the  monk  judged 
it  expedient  to  give  me  some  instructions  on  the  point,  nearly 
as  follows : — 

"  From  what  I  have  already  stated,"  he  observed,  '•"  you 
may  judge  of  the  success  with  which  our  doctors  have  la- 
bored to  discover,  in  their  wisdom,  that  a  great  many  things, 
formerly  regarded  as  forbidden,  are  innocent  and  allowable  ; 
but  as  there  are  some  sins  for  which  one  can  find  no  excuse, 
and  for  which  there  is  no  remedy  but  confession,  it  became 
necessary  to  alleviate,  by  the  methods  I  am  now  going  to 
mention,  the  difficulties  attending  that  practice.  Thus,  hav- 
ing shown  you,  in  our  previous  conversations,  how  we  relieve 
people  from  troublesome  scruples  of  conscience,  by  showing 
them  that  what  they  believed  to  be  sinful  was  indeed  quite 
innocent,  I  proceed  now  to  illustrate  our  convenient  plan  for 
expiating  what  is  really  sinful,  which  is  effected  by  making 
(tonfession  as  easy  a  process  as  it  was  formerly  a  painful  one." 

"  And  how  do  you  manage  that,  father  ?" 

"  Why,"  said   he,  "  it  is   by  those   admirable  subtleties 


PIOUS    FINESSE.  20*7 

which  are  peculiar  to  our  Company,  and  have  been  styled  by 
our  fathers  in  Flanders,  in  "  The  Image  of  the  First  Cen- 
tury,"* '  the  pious  finesse,  the  holy  artifice  of  devotion — 
piam  et  religiosam  calliditatem,  et  pietatis  $olertiam.'\  By 
the  aid  of  these  inventions,  as  they  remark  in  the  same  place, 
'crimes  may  be  expiated  now-a-days  alacrius — with  more 
zeal  and  alacrity  than  they  were  committed  in  former  days, 
and  a  great  many  people  may  be  washed  from  their  stains 
almost. as  cleverly  as  they  contracted  them — plurimi  vixcitius 
maculas  contrahunt  quam  eluunt.'  " 

"  Pray,  then,  father,  do  teach  me  some  of  these  most  sal- 
utary lessons  of  finesse." 

"  We  have  a  good  number  of  them,"  answered  the  monk ; 
"  for  there  are  a  great  many  irksome  things  about  confession, 
and  for  each  of  these  we  have  devised  a  palliative.  The 
chief  difficulties  connected  with  this  ordinance  are  the  shame 
of  confessing  certain  sins,  the  trouble  of  specifying  the  cir- 
cumstances of  others,  the  penance  exacted  for  them,  the 
resolution  against  relapsing  into  them,  the  avoidance  of  the 
proximate  occasions  of  sins,  and  the  regret  for  having  com- 
mitted them.  *  I  hope  to  convince  you  to-day,  that  it  is  now- 
possible  to  get  over  all  this  with  hardly  any  trouble  at  all ; 
such  is  the  care  we  have  taken  to  allay  the  bitterness  and 
nauseousness  of  this  very  necessary  medicine.  For,  to  begin 
with  the  difficulty  of  confessing  certain  sins,  you  are  aware 
it  is  of  importance  often  to  keep  in  the  good  graces  of  one's 
confessor ;  now,  must  it  not  be  extremely  convenient  to  be 
permitted,  as  you  are  by  our  doctors,  particularly  Escobar 
and  Suarez,  '  to  have  two  confessors,  one  for  the  mortal  sins 
and  another  for  the  venial,  in  order  to  maintain  a  fair  char- 
acter with  your  ordinary  confessor — uti  bonam  famam  apud 
ordinarium  tuealur — provided  you  do  not  take  occasion  from 
thence  to  indulge  in  mortal  sin?'  This  is  followed  by  an- 
other ingenious  contrivance  for  confessing  a  sin,  even  to  the 
ordinary  confessor,  without  his  perceiving  that  it  was  com- 
mitted since  the  last  confession,  which  is,  '  to  make  a  general 

*  See  before,  p.  116.  f  Imago  Primi  SenUi,  1.  iii.,  c.  8. 


208  7AOV1NCIAL    LETTERS. 

confession,  and  huddle  this  last  sin  in  a  lump  among  the  rest 
which  we  confess.'*  And  I  am  sure  you  will  own  that  the 
following  decision  of  Father  Bauny  goes  far  to  alleviate  the 
shame  which  one  must  feel  in  confessing  his  relapses,  namely, 
'  that,  except  in  certain  cases,  which  rarely  occur,  the  con- 
fessor is  not  entitled  to  ask  his  penitent  if  the  sin  of  which 
he  accuses  himself  is  an  habitual  one,  nor  is  the  latter  obliged 
to  answer  such  a  question ;  because  the  confessor  has  no 
right  to  subject  his  penitent  to  the  shame  of  disclosing  his 
frequent  relapses.' " 

"  Indeed,  father !  I  might  as  well  say  that  a  physician  has 
no  right  to  ask  his  patient  if  it  is  long  since  he  had  the  fever. 
Do  not  sins  assume  quite  a  different  aspect  according  to  cir- 
cumstances ?  and  should  it  not  be  the  object  of  a  genuine 
penitent  to  discover  the  whole  state  of  his  conscience  to  his 
confessor,  with  the  same  sincerity  and  openheartedness  as  if 
he  were  speaking  to  Jesus  Christ  himself,  whose  place  the 
priest  occupies  ?  If  so,  how  far  is  he  from  realizing  such  a 
disposition,  who,  by  concealing  the  frequency  of  his  relapses, 
conceals  the  aggravations  of  his  offence  !"f 

I  saw  that  this  puzzled  the  worthy  monk,  for  he  attempted 
to  elude  rather  than  resolve  the  difficulty,  by  turning  my  at- 
tention to  another  of  their  rules,  which  only  goes  to  estab- 
lish a  fresh  abuse,  instead  of  justifying  in  the  least  the  de- 
cision of  Father  Bauny  ;  a  decision  which,  in  my  opinion,  is 
one  of  the  most  pernicious  of  their  maxims,  and  calculated 
to  encourage  profligate  men  to  continue  in  their  evil  habits. 

*  Esc.  tr.  7,  a.  4,  n.  135;  also,  Princ.,  ex.  2,  n.  73. 

t  The  practice  of  auricular  confession  was  about  three  hundred  years 
old  before  the  Reformation,  having  remained  undetermined  till  the  year 
1150  after  Christ.  The  early  fathers  were,  beyond  all  question,  decid- 
edly opposed  to  it.  Chrysostom  reasons  very  differently  from  the  text. 
"  But  thou  art  ashamed  to  say  that  thou  hast  sinned  ?  Confess  thy  faults, 
then,  daily  in  thy  prayer;  for  do  I  say,  'Confess  them  to  thy  fellow- 
servant  who  may  reproach  thee  therewith  V  No  ;  confess  them  to  God 
who  healeth  them."  (In  Ps.  1.  horn.  2.)  And  to  whom  did  Augustine 
make  his  Confessions?  Was  it  not  to  the  same  Being  to  whouf  Duvid 
in  the  Psalms  and  the  publican  in  the  Gospel,  made  theirs  1  "  What 
have  I  to  do  with  men/'  says  this  father,  "  that  they  should  hear  my 
confessions,  as  if  they  were  to  heal  all  my  diseases  1"  (Confes.,  lib.  x., 
p.  3.) 


CONFESSION.  209 

"  I  grant  you,"  replied  the  father,  "  that  habit  aggravates 
the  malignity  of  a  sin,  but  it  does  not  alter  its  nature ;  and 
that  is  the  reason  why  we  do  not  insist  on  people  confessing 
it,  according  to  the  rule  laid  down  by  our  fathers,  and  quoted 
by  Escobar,  '  that  one  is  only  obliged  to  confess  the  circum- 
stances that  alter  the  species  of  the  sin,  and  not  those  that 
aggravate  it.'  Proceeding  on  this  rule,  Father  Granados 
says,  '  that  if  one  has  eaten  flesh  in  Lent,  all  he  needs  to  do 
is  to  confess  that  he  has  broken  the  fast,  without  specifying 
whether  it  was  by  eating  flesh,  or  by  taking  two  fish  meals.' 
And,  according  to  Reginald,  '  a  sorcerer  who  has  employed 
the  diabolical  art  is  not  obliged  to  reveal  that  circumstance ; 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  he  has  dealt  in  magic,  without  ex- 
pressing whether  it  was  by  palmistry  or  by  a  paction  with 
the  devil.'  Fagundez,  again,  has  decided  that  '  rape  is  not  a 
circumstance  which  one  is  bound  to  reveal,  if  the  woman  give 
her  consent.'  All  this  is  quoted  by  Escobar,*  with  many 
other  very  curious  decisions  as  to  these  circumstances,  which 
you  may  consult  at  your  leisure." 

"These  'artifices  of  devotion' are  vastly  convenient  ir 
their  way,"  I  observed. 

"And  yet,"  said  the  father,  "notwithstanding  all  that, 
they  would  go  for  nothing,  sir,  unless  we  had  proceeded  to 
mollify  penance,  which,  more  than  anything  else,  deters  peo- 
ple from  confession.  Now,  however,  the  most  squeamish 
have  nothing  to  dread  from  it,  after  what  we  have  advanced 
in  our  theses  of  the  College  of  Clermont,  where  we  hold  that 
if  the  confessor  imposes  a  suitable  penance,  and  the  peni- 
tent be  unwilling  to  submit  himself  to  it,  the  latter  may  go 
home,  waiving  both  the  penance  and  the  absolution.'  Or,  as 
Escobar  says,  in  giving  the  Practice  of  our  Society,  '  if  the 
penitent  declare  his  willingness  to  have  his  penance  remitted 
to  the  next  world,  and  to  suffer  iff  purgatory  all  the  pains 
due  to  him,  the  confessor  may,  for  the  honor  of  the  sacra- 
ment, impose  a  very  light  penance  on  him,  particularly  if  he 

*  Princ.,  ex.  2.  n,  39,  41,  61,  62. 


210  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

has  reason  to  believe  that  his  penitent  would  object  to  a 
heavier  one.' " 

•"  I  really  think,"  said  I,  "  that,  if  that  is  the  case,  we 
ought  no  longer  to  call  confession  the  sacrament  of  pen- 
ance." 

"  You  are  wrong,"  he  replied  ;  "  for  we  always  administer 
something  in  the  way  of  penance,  for  the  form's  sake." 

"But,  father,  do  you  suppose  that  a  man  is  worthy  of  re- 
ceiving absolution,  when  he  will  submit  to  nothing  painful  to 
expiate  his  offences?  And,  in  these  circumstances,  ought 
you  not  to  retain  rather  than  remit  their  sins  ?  Are  you  not 
aware  of  the  extent  of  your  ministry,  and  that  you  have  the 
power  of  binding  and  loosing  ?  Do  you  imagine"  that  you 
are  at  liberty  to  give  absolution  indifferently  to  all  who  ask 
it,  and  without  ascertaining  beforehand  if  Jesus  Christ  looses 
in  heaven  those  whom  you  loose  on  earth?"* 

"  What !"  cried  the  father,  "  do  you  suppose  that  we  do 
not  know  that  '  the  confessor  (as  one  remarks)  ought  to  sit  in 
judgment  on  the  disposition  of  his  penitent,  both  because  he 
is  bound  not  tp  dispense  the  sacraments  to  the  unworthy, 
Jesus  Christ  having  enjoined  him  to  be  a  faithful  steward, 
and  not  give  that  which  is  holy  unto  dogs  ;  and  because  he 
is  a  judge,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  a  judge  to  give  righteous 
judgment,  by  loosing  the  worthy  and  binding  the  unworthy, 
and  he  ought  not  to  absolve  those  whom  Jesus  Christ  con- 
demns.' " 

"  Whose  words  are  these,  father  ?" 

"Thej  are  the  words  of  our  father  Filiutius,"  he  replied. 

"You  astonish  me,"  said  I;  "I  took  them  to  be  a  quo- 
tation from  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  Church.  At  all  events, 

*  John  xx.  23 :  "  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost :  Whose  soever  sins  ye 
remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them;  and  whose  soever  sins  ye  retain, 
they  are  retained.'1  All  the  ancient  fathers,  such  as  Basil  Ambrose, 
Autrustinr  and  Chrysostom.  explain  this  remission  of  skis  as  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  not  of  the  apostles  except  ministerially,  in  the 
use  of  th^  spiritual  keys  of  doctrine  and  discipline,  of  intercessary  prayer 
aud  of  tli°  sacrampnts.  (Ussher's. Jesuits' Challenge,  p.  122  &c.)  Even 
the  schoolmen  held  that  the  power  of  binding  and  loosing  committed  to 
the  ministers  ot  the  Church  is  not  absolute,  but  must  be  limited  by  elate 
non  errante,  or  when  no  errnr  is  committed  in  the  use  of  the  keys. 


ABSOLUTION.  211 

sir,  that  passage  ought  to  make  an  impression  on  the  confes- 
sors, and  render  them  very  circumspect  in  the  dispensation  of 
this  sacrament,  to  ascertain  whether  the  regret  of  their  peni- 
tents is  sufficient,  and  whether  their  promises  of  future 
amendment  are  worthy  of  credit." 

"That  is  not  such  a  difficult  matter,"  replied  the  father; 
"  Filiutius  had^  more  sense  than  to  leave  confessors  in  that 
dilemma,  and  accordingly  he  suggests  an  easy  way  of  getting 
out  of  it,  in  the  words  immediately  following :  '  The  confessor 
may  easily  set  his  mind  at  rest  as  to  the  disposition  of  his 
penitent ;  for,  if  he  fail  to  give  sufficient  evidence  of  sorrow, 
the  confessor  has  only  to  ask  him  if  he  does  not  detest  the 
sin  in  his  heart,  and  if  he  answers  that  he  does,  he  is  bound 
to  believe  it.  The  same  thing  may  be  said  of  resolutions  as 
to  the  future,  unless  the  case  involves  an  obligation  to  resti- 
tution, or  to  avoid  some  proximate  occasion  of  sin.'  " 

"  As  to  that  passage,  father,  I  can  easily  believe  that  it  is 
Filiutius'  own." 

"  You  are  mistaken  though,"  said  the  father,  "  for  he  has 
extracted  it,  word  for  word,  from  Suarez."* 

"  But,  father,  that  last  passage  from  Filiutius  overturns 
what  he  had  laid  down  in  the  former.  For  confessors  can 
no  longer  be  said  to  sit  as  judges  on  the  disposition  of  their 
penitents,  if  they  are  bound  to  take  it  simply  upon  their 
word,  in  the  absence  of  all  satisfying  signs  of  contrition.  Are 
the  professions  made  on  such  occasions  so  infallible,  that  no 
other  sign  is  needed  ?  I  question  much  if  experience  has 
taught  your  fathers,  that  all  who  make  fair  promises  are  re- 
markable for  keeping  them ;  I  am  mistaken  if  they  have  not 
often  found  the  reverse." 

"  No  matter,"  replied  the  monk ;  "  confessors  are  bound  to 
believe  them  for  all  that ;  for  Father  Bauny,  who  was  probed 
this  question  to  the  bottom,  has  concluded  '  that  at  whatever 
time  those  who  have  fallen  into  frequent  relapses,  without 
giving  evidence' of  amendment,  present  themselves  before  a 
confessor,  expressing  their  regret  for  the  past,  a.nd  a  good 

*  In  3  part,   ,  4,  disp.  32,  sect.  2,  n.  2. 


212  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

purpose  for  the  future,  he  is  bound  to  believe  them  on  their 
simple  averment,  although  there  may  be  reason  to  presume 
that  such  resolution  only  came  from  the  teeth  outwards. 
Nay,'  says  he,  '  though  they  should  indulge  subsequently  to 
greater  excess  than  ever  in  the  same  delinquencies,  still,  in 
my  opinion,  they  may  receive  absolution.'*  There  now ! 
that,  I  am  sure,  should  silence  you." 

"  But,  father,"  said  I,  "  you  impose  a  great  hardship,  I 
think,  on  the  confessors,  by  thus  obliging  them  to  believe  the 
very  reverse  of  what  they  see." 

"  You  don't  understand  it,"  returned  he ;  "  all  that  is 
meant  is,  that  they  are  obliged  to  act  and  absolve  as  if  they 
believed  that  their  penitents  would  be  true  to  their  engage- 
ments, though,  in  point  of  fact,  they  believe  no  such  thing. 
This  is  explained,  immediately  afterwards,  by  Suarez  and  Fi- 
liutius.  After  having  said  that  '  the  priest  is  bound  to  believe 
the  penitent  on  his  word,'  they  add,  '  It  is  not  necessary  that 
the  confessor  should  be  convinced  that  the  good  resolution 
of  his  penitent  will  be  carried  into  effect,  nor  even  that  he 
should  judge  it  probable  ;  it  is  enough  that  he  thinks  the 
person  has  at  the  time  the  design  in  general,  though  he  rnay 
very  shortly  after  relapse.  Such  is  the  doctrine  of  all  our 
authors — ita  docent  omnes  aufffres.'  Will  you  presume  to 
doubt  what  has  been  taught  by  our  authors  ?" 

"  But,  sir,  what  then  becomes  of  what  Father  Petauf  him- 
self is  obliged  to  own,  in  the  preface  to  his  Public  Penance, 
'that  the  holy  fathers,  doctors,  and  councils  of  the  Church 

*  Summary  of  Sins,  c.  46,  p.  1090,  1,  2. 

t  Denis  Petau  (Dionysius  Pctavius)  a  learned  Jesuit,  was  born  at 
Orleans  in  1593.  and  died  in  1G52.  The  catalogue  of  his  works  alone 
would  fill  a  volume.  He  wrote  in  elegant  Latin,  on  all  subjects,  gram- 
mar, history,  chronology,  &c..  as  well  as  theology.  Perrault  informs  us 
that  he  had  an  incredible  ardor  for  the  conversion  of  heretics,  and  had 
almost  succeeded  in  converting  the  celebrated  Grotius— a  very  unlikely 
story.  (Les  Homines  lllustres.  p.  19.)  His  book  on  Public  Penance 
(Paris,  1(544)  was  intended  as  a  refutation  of  Arnaulil  s  "  Frequent 
Communion ;"  but  is  said  to  have  been  ill-written  and  unsuccessful. 
Though  he  professed  the  theology  of  his  order,  he  is  said  to  have  had  a 
kind  of  predilection  for  austere  opinions,  being  naturally  of  a  melan- 
choly temper.  When  invited  by  the  pope  to  visit  Rome,  he  replied,  "  I 
am  too  old  toJIU" — demenagtr.  (Diet.  Univ.,  art.  Petau.) 


ABSOLUTION.  213 

agree  in  holding  it  as  a  settled  point,  that  the  penance  pre- 
paratory to  the  eucharist  must  be  genuine,  constant,  resolute, 
and  not  languid  and  sluggish,  or  subject  to  after- thoughts 
and  relapses ?'" 

'•Don't  you  observe,"  replied  the  monk,  "that  Father  Pe- 
tau  is  speaking  of  the  ancient  Church  ?  But  all  that  is  now 
so  little  in  season,  to  use  a  common  saying  of  our  doctors, 
that,  according  to  Father  Bauny,  the  reverse  is  the  only  true 
view  of  the  matter.  'There  are  spme,'  says  he,  'who  main- 
tain that  absolution  ought  to  be  refused  to  those  who  fall  fre- 
quently into  the  same  sins,  more  especially  if,  after  being  oft- 
en absolved,  they  evince  no  signs  of  amendment ;  and  others 
hold  the  opposite  view.  But  the  only  true  opinion  is,  that 
they  ought  not  to  be  refused  absolution ;  and  though  they 
should  be  nothing  the  better  of  all  the  advice  given  them, 
though  they  should  have  broken  all  their  promises  to  lead 
new  lives,  and  been  at  no  trouble  to  purify  themselves,  still  it 
is  of  no  consequence  ;  whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contrary, 
the  true  opinion  which  ought  to  be  followed  is,  that  even  in 
all  these  cases,  they  ought  to  be  absolved.'  And  again : 
'  Absolution  ought  neither  to  Tie  denied  nor  delayed  in  the 
case  of  those  who  live  in  habitual  sins  against  the  law  of  God, 
of  nature,  and  of  the  Church,  although  there  should  be  no 
apparent  prospect  of  future  amendment — etsi  cmendationis 
futures  nulla  spes  appareat.'  " 

"  But,  father,  this  certainty  of  always  getting  absolution 
may  induce  sinners — " 

"  I  know  what  you  mean,"  interrupted  the  Jesuit ;  "  but 
listen  to  Father  Bauny,  q.  15  :  '  Absolution  may  be  given  even 
to  him  who  candidly  avows  that  the  hope  of  being  absolved 
induced  him  to  sin  with  more  freedom  than  he  would  other- 
wise have  done.'  And  Father  Caussin,  defending  this  prop- 
osition, says,  '  that  were  this  not  true,  confession  would  be 
interdicted  to  the  greater  part  of  mankind ;  and  the  only  re- 
source left  for  poor  sinners  would  be  a  branch  and  a  rope  !'  "; 

*  Reply  li  the  Moral  Theol.,  p.  211. 


214  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

"  0  father,  how  these  maxims  of  yours  \vill  draw  people 
to  your  confessionals !" 

"Yes,"  he  replied,  "you  would  hardly  believe  what  num- 
bers are  in  the  habit  of  frequenting  them  ;  '  we  are  absolutely 
oppressed  and  overwhelmed,  so  to  speak,  under  the  crowd 
of  our  penitents — penitentium  numero  obruimur' — as  is  said 
in  'The  Image  of  the  First  Century.'  " 

"  I  could  suggest  a  very  simple  method,"  said  I,  "  to  es- 
cape from  this  inconvenient  pressure.  You  have  only  to 
oblige  sinners  to  avoid  the  proximate  occasions  of  sin ;  that 
single  expedient  would  afford  you  relief  at  once." 

"We  have  no  wish  for  such  a  relief,"  rejoined  the  monk; 
"  quite  the  reverse ;  for,  as  is  observed  in  the  same  book,  '  the 
great  end  of  our  Society  is  to  labor  to  establish  the  virtues, 
to  wage  war  on  the  vices,  and  to  save  a  great  number  of 
souls.'  Now,  as  there  are  very  few  souls  inclined  to  quit  the 
proximate  occasions  of  sin,  we  have  been  obliged  to  define 
what  a  proximate  occasion  is.  '  That  cannot  be  called  a  prox- 
imate occasion,'  says  Escobar,  'where  one  sins  but  rarely,  or 
on  a  sudden  transport — say  three  or  four  times  a  year  ;'*  or, 
as  Father  Bauny  has  it,  '  once  or  twice  in  a  month. 'f  Again, 
asks  this  author,  '  what  is  to  be  done  in  the  case  of  masters 
and  servants,  or  cousins,  who,  living  under  the  same  roof,  are 
by  this  occasion  tempted  to  sin  ?'  " 

"  They  ought  to  be  separated,"  said  I. 

"  That  is  what  he  says,  too,  '  if  their  relapses  be  very  fre- 
quent :  but  if  the  parties  offend  rarely,  and  cannot  be  sepa- 
rated without  trouble  and  loss,  they  may,  according  to  Sua- 
rez  and  other  authors,  be  absolved,  provided  they  promise  to 
sin  no  more,  and  are  truly  sorry  for  what  is  past.'  " 

This  required  no  explanation,  for  he  had  already  informed 
me  with  what  sort  of  evidence  of  contrition  the  confessor  was 
bound  to  rest  satisfied. 

"And  Father  Bauny,"  continued  the  monk,  "permits 
those  who  are  involved  in  the  proximate  occasions  of  sin,  '  to 
remain  as  they  are,  when  they  cannot  avoid  them  without 

*  EBC.,  Practice  of  the  Society,  tr  7,  ex.  4,  n.  226     f  P-  1082,  WB9 


OCCASIONS    OF. SIN.  215 

becoming  the  common  talk  of  the  world,  or  subjecting  them- 
selves to  inconvenience.'  'A  priest,'  he  remarks  in  another 
work,  '  may  and  ought  to  absolve  a  woman  who  is  guilty  of 
living  with  a  paramour,  if  she  cannot  put  him  away  honora- 
bly, or  has  some  reason  for  keeping  him — si  non  potest  honeste 
ejicere,  aut  kabeat  atiquam  causam  retinendi — provided  she 
promises  to  act  more  virtuously  for  the  future.'  "* 

"  Well,  father,"  cried  I,  "  you  have  certainly  succeeded  in 
relaxing  the  obligation  of  avoiding  the  occasions  of  sin  to  a 
very  comfortable  extent,  by  dispensing  with  the  duty  as  soon 
as  it  becomes  inconvenient ;  bxit  I  should  think  your  fathers 
•will  at  least  allow  it  to  be  binding  when  there  is  no  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  its  performance  ?" 

"  Yes,"  said  the  father,  "  though  even  then  the  rule  is  not 
•without  exceptions.  For  Father  Bauny  says,  in  the  same 
place,  '  that  any  one  may  frequent  profligate  houses,  with  the 
view  of  converting  their  unfortunate  inmates,  though  the 
probability  should  be  that  he  fall  into  sin,  having  often  expe- 
rienced before  that  he  has  yielded  to  their  fascinations.  Some 
doctors  do  not  approve  of  this  opinion,  and  hold  that  no  man 
may  voluntarily  put  his  salvation  in  peril  to  succor  his  neigh- 
bor;  yet  I  decidedly  embrace  the  opinion  which  they  contro- 
vert.' " 

"  A  novel  sort  of  preachers  these,  father !  But  where  does 
Father  Bauny  find  any  ground  for  investing  them  with  such 
a  mission  ?" 

"  It  is  upon  one  of  his  own  principles,"  he  replied,  "  which 
he  announces  in  the  same  place  after  Basil  Ponce.  I  men- 
tioned it  to  you  before,  and  I  presume  you  have  not  forgotten 
it.  It  is,  '  that  one  may  seek  an  occasion  of  sin,  directly  and 
expressly — primo  et  per  se — to  promote  the  temporal  or  spir- 
itual good  of  himself  or  his  neighbor.'  " 

On  hearing  these  passages,  I  felt  so  horrified  that  I  was  on 
the  point  of  breaking  out ;  but,  being  resolved  to  hear  him 
to  an  end,  I  restrained  myself,  and  merely  inquired  :  "  How, 
father,  does  this  doctrine  comport  with  that  of  the  Gospel, 

*  Theol.  Mor..  tr.  4,  De  Poenit..  q.  13  pp.  93,  94. 


216  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

•which  binds  us  to  '  pluck  out  the  right  eye,'  and  '  cut  off  the 
right  hand,'  wher.  they  'offend, 'or  prove  prejudicial  to  salva- 
tion ?  And  how  can  you  suppose  that  the  man  who  wilfully 
indulges  in  the  occasions  of  sins,  sincerely  hates  sin  ?  Is  it 
not  evident,  on  the  contrary,  that  he  has  never  been  properly 
touched  with  a  sense  of  it,  and  that  he  has  not  yet  experienced 
that  genuine  conversion  of  heart,  which  makes  a  man  love 
God  as  much  as  he  formerly  loved  the  creature  ?" 

"  Indeed !"  cried  he,  "  do  you  call  that  genuine  contrition  ? 
It  seems  you  do  not  know  that,  as  Father  Pintereau*  says, 
'all  our  fathers  teach,  with  one  accord,  that  it  is  an  error,  and 
almost  a  heresy,  to  hold  that  contrition  is  necessary ;  or  that 
attrition  alone,  induced  by  the  sole  motive,  the  fear  of  the 
pains  of  hell,  which  excludes  a  disposition  to  offend,  is  not 
sufficient  with  the  sacrament  ?'  "f 

"  What,  father !  do  you  mean  to  say  that  it  is  almost  an 
article  of  faith,  that  attrition,  induced  merely  by  fear  of  pun- 
ishment, is  sufficient  with  the  sacrament  ?  That  idea,  I  think, 
is  peculiar  to  your  fathers  ;  for  those  other  doctors  who  hold 
that  attrition  is  sufficient  along  with  the  sacrament,  always 
take  care  to  show  that  it  must  be  accompanied  with  some 
love  to  God  at  least.  It  appears  to  me,  moreover,  that  even 
your  own  authors  did  not  always  consider  this  doctrine  of 
yours  so  certain.  Your  Father  Suarez,  for  instance,  speaks 

*  The  work  ascribed  to  Pintereau  was  entitled,  "  Les  Impostures  et 
les  Ignorances  du  Libelle  intitule  la  Theologie  Morale  desJesuites:  par 
1'Abbe  du  Bokic." 

•f  That  is.  the  sacrament  of  penance,  as  it  is  called.  "That  contri- 
tion is  at  all  times  necessarily  required  for  obtaining  remission  of  sins 
and  justification,  is  a  matter  determined  by  the  fathers  of  Trent.  But 
mark  yet  the  mystery.  They  equivocate  with  us  in  the  term  contrition, 
and  make  a  distinction  thereof  into  perfect  and  imperfect.  The  former 
of  these  is  contrition  properly;  the  latter  they  call  attrition,  which  how- 
soever in  itself  it  be  no  true  contrition,  yet  when  the  priest,  with  his 
power  of  forgiving  sins,  interposes  himself  in  the  business,  they  tell  us 
that  attrition,  by  virtue  of  the  keys,  is  made  contrition :  that  is  to  sny, 
that  a  sorrow  arising  from  a  servile  fear  of  punishment,  and  such  a  fruit- 
less repentance  as  the  reprobate  may  carry  with  them  to  hell,  by  virtue 
of  the  priest's  absolution,  is  made  so  fruitful  that  it  shall  serve  the  turn 
for  obtaining  forgiveness  of  sins,  as  if  it  had  been  that  godly  sorrow 
which  worketh  repentance  to  salvation  not  to  be  repented  of.  By  which 
spiritual  cozenage  many  poor  souls  are  most  miserably  deluded/'  (Usah- 
er'»  Tracts,  p.  1 63  ) 


ATTRITION.  217 

of  it  thus  :  '  Although  it  is  a  probable  opinion  that  attrition 
is  sufficient  with  the  sacrament,  yet  it  is  not  certain,  and  it 
may  be  false^ — non  est  certa,  et  potest  esse  falsa.  And  if  it  is 
false,  attrition  is  not  sufficient  to  save  a  man;  and  he  that 
dies  knowingly  in  this  state,  wilfully  exposes  himself  to  the 
grave  peril  of  eternal  damnation.  For  this  opinion  is  neither 
very  ancient  nor  very  common — nee  valde  antiqua,  nee  multum 
communis.'  Sanchez  was  not  more  prepared  to  hold  it  as 
infallible,  when  he  said  in  his  Summary,  that  '  the  sick  man 
and  his  confessor,  who  content  themselves  at  the  hour  of 
death  with  attrition  and  the  sacrament,  are  both  chargeable 
with  mortal  sin,  on  account  of  the  great  risk  of  damnation 
to  which  the  penitent  would  be  exposed,  if  the  opinion  that 
attrition  is  sufficient  with  the  sacrament  should  not  turn  out 
to  be  true.'  Comitolus,  too,  says  that  '  we  should  not  be  too 
sure  that  attrition  suffices  with  the  sacrament.'  "* 

Here  the  worthy  father  interrupted  me.  "What!"  he 
cried,  "  you  read  our  authors  then,  it  seems  ?  That  is  all 
very  well ;  but  it  would  be  still  better  were  you  never  to 
read  them  without  the  precaution  of  having  one  of  us  beside 
you.  Do  you  not  see,  now,  that,  from  having  read  them 
alone,  you  have  concluded,  in  your  simplicity,  that  these  pas- 
sages bear  hard  on  those  who  have  more  lately  supported  our 
doctrine  of  attrition  ?  whereas  it  might  be  shown  that  nothing 
could  set  them  off  to  greater  advantage.  Only  think  what  a 
triumph  it  is  for  our  fathers  of  the  present  day  to  have  suc- 
ceeded in  disseminating  their  opinion  in  such  short  time,  and 
to  such  an  extent  that,  with  the  exception  of  theologians,  no- 
body almost  would  ever  suppose  but  that  our  modern  views 
on  this  subject  had  been  the  uniform  belief  of  the  faithful  in 
all  ages  !  So  that,  in  fact,  when  you  have  shown,  from  our 
fathers  themselves,  that,  a  few-years  ago,  '  this  opinion  was 
not  certain,'  you  have  only  succeeded  in  giving  our  modern 
authors  the  whole  merit  of  its  establishment ! 


*  These  quotations,  carefully  marked  in  the  original,  afford  a  suffi- 
cient answer  to  Father  Daniel's  lon^  argument,  which  consists  chiefly 
of  citations  from  Ie«uit  writers  who  hold  the  views  afrove  given. 
10 


218  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

"  Accordingly,"  he  continued,  "  our  cordial  friend  Diana, 
to  gratify  us,  no  doubt,  has  recounted  the  various  steps  by 
•which  the  opinion  reached  its  present  position.*  '  In  former 
days,  the  ancient  schoolmen  maintained  that  contrition  was 
necessary  as  soon  as  one  had  committed  a  mortal  sin ;  since 
then,  however,  it  has  been  thought  that  it  is  not  binding  ex- 
cept on  festival  days  ;  afterwards,  only  when  some  great 
calamity  threatened  the  people :  others,  again,  that  it  ought 
not  to  be  long  delayed  at  the  approach  of  death.  But  our 
fathers,  Hurtado  and  Vasquez,  have  ably  refuted  all  these 
opinions,  and  established  that  one  is  not  bound  to  contrition 
unless  he  cannot  be  absolved  in  any  other  way,  or  at  the 
point  of  death !'  But,  to  continue  the  wonderful  progress 
of  this  doctrine,  I  might  add,  what  our  fathers,  Fagundez, 
Granados,  and  Escobar,  have  decided,  '  that  contrition  is  not 
necessary  even  at  death  ;  because,'  say  they,  '  if  attrition 
with  the  sacrament  did  not  suffice  at  death,  it  would  follow 
that  attrition  would  not  be  sufficient  with  the  sacrament. 
And  the  learned  Hurtado,  cited  by  Diana  and  Escobar,  goes 
still  further ;  for  he  asks,  '  Is  that  sorrow  for  sin  which  flows 
solely  from  apprehension  of  its  temporal  consequences,  such 
as  having  lost  health  or  money,  sufficient  ?  We  must  distin- 
guish. If  the  evil  is  not  regarded  as  sent  by  the  hand  of 
God,  such  a  sorrow  does  not  suffice ;  but  if  the  evil  is  viewed 
as  sent  by  God,  as,  in  fact,  all  evil,  says  Diana,  except  sin, 
comes  from  him,  that  kind  of  sorrow  is  sufficient.'!  Our 
Father  Lamy  holds  the  same  doctrine."J 

"  You  surprise  me,  father ;  for  I  see  nothing  in  all  that 
attrition  of  which  you  speak  but  what  is  natural ;  and  in  this 
way  a  sinner  may  render  himself  worthy  of  absolution  without 

*  It  may  be  remembered  that  Diana,  though  not  a  Jesuit,  was  claimed 
%  the-  Society  as  a  favorer  of  their  casuists.  This  writer  was  once  held 
in  such  high  repute,  that  he  was  consulted  by  people  from  all  parts  of 
the  world  as  a  perfect  oracle  in  cases  of  conscience.  He  is  now  forgot- 
ten. His  style,  like  that  of  most  of  these  scholastics,  is  described  as 
"  insipid,  stingy,  and  crawling."  (Biogr.  Univ.,  Anc.  et  Mod.) 

t  Esc.  Pratique  de  notre  Societe,  tr.  7,  ex.  4,  n.  91. 

t  Tr.  8,  diap.  3,  n.  13. 


ATTRITION.  219 

supernatural  grace  at  all.  Now  everybody  knows  that  this 
is  a  heresy  condemned  by  the  Council."* 

"  I  should  have  thought  with  you,"  he  replied  ;  "  and  yet 
it  seems  this  must  not  be  the  case,  for  the  fathers  of  our  Col- 
lege of  Clermont  have  maintained  (in  their  Theses  of  the  23rd 
May  and  6th  June  1644)  'that  attrition  maybe  holy  and 
sufficient  for  the  sacrament,  although  it  may  not  be  super- 
natural :'  and  (in  that  of  August  1643) '  that  attrition,  though 
merely  natural,  is  sufficient  for  the  sacrament,  provided  it  is 
honest.'  I  do  not  see  what  more  could  be  said  on  the  sub- 
ject, unless  we  choose  to  subjoin  an  inference,  which  may  be 
easily  drawn  from  these  principles,  namely,  that  contrition,  sc 
far  from  being  necessary  to  the  sacrament,  is  rather  preju- 
dicial to  it,  inasmuch  as,  by  washing  away  sins  of  itself,  it 
would  leave  nothing  for  the  sacrament  to  do  at  all.  That  is, 
indeed,  exactly  what  the  celebrated  Jesuit  Father  Valencia 
remarks.  (Tom.  iv.,  disp.  7,  q.  8,  p.  4.)  'Contrition,'  says 
he,  '  is  by  no  means  necessary  in  order  to  obtain  the  princi- 
pal benefit  of  the  sacrament ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  rather  an 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  it — irho  obstat  potius  quominus  effectus 
sefjuatur.'  Nobody  could  well  desire  more  to  be  said  in 
commendation  of  attrition. "f 

"  I  believe  that,  father,"  said  I ;  "  but  you  must  allow  me  to 
tell  you  my  opinion,  and  to  show  you  to  what  a  dreadful 
length  this  doctrine  leads.  When  you  say  that  '  attrition, 
induced  by  the  mere  dread  of  punishment,'  is  sufficient,  with 
the  sacrament,  to  justify  sinners,  does  it  not  follow  that  a 
person  may  always  expiate  his  sins  in  this  way,  and  thus  be 

*  Of  Trent.  Nicole  attempts  to  prove  that  the  "  imperfect  contrition" 
of  this  Council  includes  the  love  of  God,  and  that  they  condemned  aa 
heretical  the  opinion,  that  c;  any  could  prepare  himself  for  grace  with- 
out a  movement  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  He  is  more  successful  in  showing 
that  the  Jesuits  were  heretical  when  judged  by  Augustine  and  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  (NTote  -J  sur  la  x.  Lettre.) 

t  The  Jesuits  are  so  fond  of  their  "  attrition."  or  purely  natural  re- 
pentance, til-it  one  of  their  own  theologians  (Cardinal  Francis  Tolet) 
having  condemned  it  thpy  falsified  the  passage  in  a  subsequent  edition, 
making  him  speak  the  opposite  sentiment.  The  forgery  was  exposed ; 
but  the  worthy  fathers,  according  to  custom,  allowed  it  to  pass  without 
notice,  ad  major  em  Dei  gloriam.  (Nicole,  iii.  95  ) 


220  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

saved  without  ever  having  loved  God  all  his  lifetime?  Would 
your  fathers  venture  to  hold  that  ?" 

"  I  perceive,"  replied  the  monk,  "  from  the  strain  of  your 
remarks,  that  you  need  some  information  on  the  doctrine  of 
our  fathers  regarding  the  love  of  God.  This  is  the  last  fea- 
ture of  their  morality,  and  the  most  important  of  all.  You 
must  have  learned  something  of  it  from  the  passages  about 
contrition  which  I  have  quoted  to  you.  But  here  are  others 
still  more  definite  on  the  point  of  love  to  God — Don't  inter- 
rupt me,  now  ;  for  it  is  of  importance  to  notice  the  connection. 
Attend  to  Escobar,  who  reports  the  different  opinions  of  our 
authors,  in  his  '  Practice  of  the  Love  of  God  according  to 
our  Society.'  The  question  is :  '  When  is  one  obliged  to 
have  an  actual. affection  for  God?'  Suarez  says,  it  is  enough 
if  one  loves  him  before  being  articulo  mortis — at  the  point 
of  death — without  determining  the  exact  time.  Vasquez, 
that  it  is  sufficient  even  at  the  very  point  of  death.  Others, 
•when  one  has  received  baptism.  Others,  again,  when  one  is 
bound  to  exercise  contrition.  And  others,  on  festival  days. 
But  our  father,  Castro  Palao,  combats  all  these  opinions,  and 
with  good  reason — merito.  Hurtado  de  Mendoza  insists  that 
we  are  obliged  to  love  God  once  a-year ;  and  that  we  ought 
to  regard  it  as  a  great  favor  that  we  are  not  bound  to  do  it 
oftener.  But  our  Father  Coninck  thinks  that  we  are  bound 
to  it  only  once  in  three  or  four  years ;  Henriquez,  once  in 
five  years ;  and  Filiutius  says  that  it  is  probable  that  we  are 
not  strictly  bound  to  it  even  once  in  five  years.  How  often, 
then,  do  you  ask  ?  Why,  he  refers  it  to  the  judgment  of  the 
judicious." 

I  took  no  notice  of  all  this  badinage,  in  which  the  ingenu- 
ity of  man  seems  to  be  sporting,  in  the  height  of  insolence, 
with  the  love  of  God. 

"  But,"  pursued  the  monk,  "  our  Father  Antony  Sirmond 
surpasses  all  on  this  point,  in  his  admirable  book,  'The 'De- 
fence of  Virtue,'*  where,  as  he  tells  the  reader,  '  he  spoaka 
French  in  France,'  as  follows  :  '  St.  Thomas  says  that  we 

•  Tr.  1,  ex.  2,  n.  21 ;  and  tr.  5,  ex.  4,  n  8. 


LOVE    TO    JOD.  221 

are  obliged  to  love  God  as  soon  as  we  come  to  the  use  of 
reason  :  that  is  rather  too  soon  !  Scotus  says,  every  Sunday ; 
pray,  for  what  reason  ?  Others  say,  when  we  are  sorely 
tempted :  yes,  if  there  be  no  other  way  of  escaping  the 
temptation.  Scotus  says,  when  we  have  received  a  benefit 
from  God  :  good,  in  the  way  of  thanking  him  for  it.  Others 
say,  at  death :  rather  late !  As  little  do  I  think  it  binding 
at  the  reception  of  any  sacrament :  attrition  in  such  cases  is 
quite  enough,  along  with  confession,  if  convenient.  Suarez 
says  that  it  is  binding  at  some  time  or  another ;  but  at  what 
time  ? — he  leaves  you  to  judge  of  that  for  yourself — he  does 
not  know  ;  and  what  that  doctor  did  not  know  I  know  not 
who  should  know.'  In  short,  he  concludea  that  we  are  not 
strictly  bound  to  more  than  to  keep  the  other  commandments, 
without  any  affection  for  God,  and  without  giving  him  our 
hearts,  provided  that  we  do  not  hate  him.  To  prove  this  is 
the  sole  object  of  his  second  treatise.  You  will  find  it  in 
every  page  ;  more  especially  where  he  says  :  '  God,  in  com- 
manding us  to  love  him,  is  satisfied  with  our  obeying  him  in 
his  other  commandments.  If  God  had  said,  Whatever  obe- 
dience thou  yieldest  me,  if  thy  heart  is  not  given  to  me,  I  will 
destroy  thee ! — would  such  a  motive,  think  you,  be  well  fit- 
ted to  promote  the  end  which  God  must,  and  only  can,  have 
in  view  ?  Hence  it  is  said  that  we  shall  love  God  by  doing 
his  will,  as  if  we  loved  him  with  affection,  as  if  the  motive  in 
this  case  was  real  charity.  If  that  is  really  our  motive,  so 
much  the  better ;  if  not,  still  we  are  strictly  fulfilling  the 
commandment  of  love,  by  having  its  works,  so  that  (such  is 
the  goodness  of  God !)  we  are  commanded,  not  so  much  to 
love  him,  as  not  to  hate  him.' 

"  Such  is  the  way  in  which  our  doctors  have  discharged 
men  from  the  '  painful'  obligation  of  actually  loving  God. 
And  this  doctrine  is  so  advantageous,  that  our  Fathers  An- 
nat,  Pintereau,  Le  Moine,  and  Antony  Sirmond  himself, 
have  strenuously  defended  it  when  it  hjis  been  attacked.  You 
have  only  to  consult. their  answers  to  the  'Moral  Theology.' 
That  of  Father  Pintereau,  in  particular,  will  enable  you  to 


222  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

form  some  idea  of  the  value  of  this  dispensation,  from  the 
price  which  he  tells  us  that  it  cost,  which  is  no  less  than  the 
Mood  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  crowns  the  whole.  It  appears, 
that  this  dispensation  from  the  '  painful'  obligation  to  love 
God,  is  the  privilege  of  the  Evangelical  law,  in  opposition  to 
the  Judaical.  'It  was  reasonable,'  he  says,  'that,  under  the 
law  of  grace  in  the  New  Testament,  God  should  relieve  us 
from  that  troublesome  and  arduous  obligation  which  existed 
under  the  law  of  bondage,  to  exercise  an  act  of  perfect  con- 
trition, in  order  to  be  justified  ;  and  that  the  place  of  this 
should  be  supplied  by  the  sacraments,  instituted  in  aid  of  an 
easier  disposition.  Otherwise,  indeed,  Christians,  who  are 
the  children,  would  have  no  greater  facility  in  gaining  the 
good  graces  of  their  Father  than  the  Jews,  who  were  the 
slaves,  had  in  obtaining  the  mercy  of  their  Lord  and 
Master.'  "* 

"  0  father !"  cried  I ;  "no  patience  can  stand  this  any 
longer.  It  is  impossible  to  listen  without  horror  to  the  sen- 
timents you  have  now  been  sporting." 

"  They  are  not  my  sentiments,"  said  the  monk. 

"  I  grant  it,  sir,"  said  I ;  "  but  you  feel  no  aversion  to 
them  ;  and,  so  far  from  detesting  the  authors  of  these  max- 
ims, you  hold  them  in  esteem.  Are  you  not  afraid  that  your 
consent  may  involve  you  in  a  participation  of  their  guilt  ? 
and  are  you  not  aware  that  St.  Paul  judges  worthy  of  death, 

*  Shocking  as  these  principles  are,  it  might  be  easy  to  show  that  they 
necessarily  flow  from  the  Romish  doctrine,  which  substitutes  the  imper- 
fect obedience  of  the  sinner  as  the  meritorious  ground  of  justification,  in 
the  room  of  the  al  -perfect  obedience  and  oblation  of  the  Son  of  God, 
which  renders  it  necessary  to  lower  the  divine  standard  of  duty.  The 
attempt  of  Father  Daniel  to  escape  from  the  serious  charge  in  the  text 
under  a  cloud  of  metaphysical  distinctions  about  affective  and  effective 
love,  is  about  as  lame  as  the  argument  he  draws  from  the  merciful 
character  of  the  Gospel,  is  dishonorable  to  the  Saviour,  who  "  cams  not 
to  destroy  the  law  and  the  prophets,  but  to  fulfil/'  But  this  "confusion 
worse  confounded"  arises  from  putting  love  to  God  out  of  its  proper 
place  and  representing  it  as  the  price  of  our  pardon  instead  of  the  fruit 
of  faith  in  p-irdoning  mercy.  Arnauld  was  as  far  wrong  on  this  point 
as  the  Jesuits :  and  it  is  astonishing  that  he  did  not  discover  in  their 
system  the  radical  error  of  his  own  creed  carried  out  to  its  proper  con- 
sequences. (Reponse  Gen.  au  Livre  de  M.  Arnauld,  par  Elie  Merlat, 
p.  30.) 


PASCAL'S  INDIGNANT  DISCLOSURE.  223 

not  only  the  authors  of  evil  things,  but  also  '  those  who  have 
pleasure  in  them  that  do  them?'  Was  it  not  enough  to 
have  permitted  men  to  indulge  in  so  many  forbidden  things, 
undei  the  covert  of  your  palliations  ?  Was  it  necessary  to 
go  stO  further,  and  hold  out  a  bribe  to  them  to  commit  even 
those  crimes  which  you  found  it  impossible  to  excuse,  by 
offering  them  an  easy  and  certain  absolution ;  and  for  this 
purpose  nullifying  the  power  of  the  priests,  and  obliging 
them,  more  as  slaves  than  as  judges,  to  absolve  the  most  in- 
veterate sinners — without  any  amendment  of  life — without 
any  sign  of  contrition  except  promises  a  hundred  times  bro- 
ken— without  penance  '  unless  they  choose  to  accept  of  it' — 
and  without  abandoning  the  occasions  of  their  vices,  '  if  they 
should  thereby  be  put  to  any  inconvenience  ?' 

"  But  your  doctors  have  gone  even  beyond  this ;  and  the 
license  which  they  have  assumed  to  tamper  with  the  most 
holy  rules  of  Christian  conduct  amount  to  a  total  subversion 
of 'the  law  of  God.  They  violate  'the  great  commandment 
on  which  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets  ;'  they  strike  at 
the  very  heart  of  piety  ;  they  rob  it  of  the  spirit  that  giveth 
life ;  they  hold  that  to  love  God  is  not  necessary  to  salva- 
tion ;  and  go  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  '  this  dispensation 
from  loving  God  is  the  privilege  which  Jesus  Christ  has  in- 
troduced into  the  world !'  This,  sir,  is  the  very  climax  of 
impiety.  The  price  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  paid  to 
obtain  us  a  dispensation  from  loving  him  !  Before  the  incar- 
nation, it  seems  men  were  obliged  to  love  God  :  but  since 
'  God  has  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only-begotten 
Son,'  the  world,  redeemed  by  him,  is  released  from  loving 
him  !  Strange  divinity  of  our  days — to  dare  to  take  off  the 
'  anathema'  which  St.  Paul  denounces  on  those  '  that  love 
not  the  Lord  Jesus !'  To  cancel  the  sentence  of  St.  John  : 
'  He  that  loveth  not,  abideth  in  death !'  and  that  of  Jesu* 
Christ  himself:  '  He  that  loveth  me«not  keepeth  not  my  pre- 
cepts !'  and  thus  to  render  those  worthy  of  enjoying  God 
through  eternity  who  never  loved  God  all  their  life  !*  Be- 

*  "  Nothing  on  this  point     says  Nicole  in  a  note  here,  "  can  be  finer 


224  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

hold  the  Mystery  of  Iniquity  fulfilled  !  Open  your  eyes  at 
length,  my  dear  father,  and  if  the  other  aberrations  of  your 
casuists  have  made  no  impression  on  you,  let  these  last, 
by  their  very  extravagance,  compel  you  to  abandon  them. 
This  is  what  I  desire  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  for  your 
own  sake  and  for  the  sake  of  your  doctors  ;  and  my  prayer 
to  God  is,  that  he  would  vouchsafe  to  convince  them  how. 
false  the  light  must  be  that  has  guided  them  to  such  preci- 
pices ;  and  that  he  would  fill  their  hearts  with  that  love  of 
himself  from  which  they  have  dared  to  give  man  a  dis- 
pensation !" 

After  some  remarks  of  this  nature,  I  took  my  leave  of  the 
monk,  and  I  see  no  great  likelihood  of  my  repeating  my 
visits  to  him.  This,  however,  need  not  occasion  you  any 
regret ;  for,  should  it  be  necessary  to  continue  these  com- 
munications on  their  maxims,  I  have  studied  their  books  suf- 
ficiently to  tell  you  as  much  of  theif  morality,  and  more, 
perhaps,  of  their  policy,  than  he  could  have  done  himself. — 
I  am,  &c. 

than  the  prosopopeia  in  which  Despreajjx  (Boileau)  introduces  God  as 
judging  mankind.1'  He  then  quotes  a  long  passage  from  the  Twelfth 
Epistle  of  that  poet,  beginning — 

"  Quand  Dieu  viendra  juger  les  vivans  et  les  morts,"  &c. 

Boileau  was  the  personal  friend  of  Arnauld  and  Pascal,  and  satirized 
the  Jesuits  with  such  pleasant  irony  that  Father  la  Chaise,  the  confes- 
sor of  Louis  XIV..  though  himself  a  Jesuit,  is  said  to  have  taken  a  pleas- 
ure in  repeating  his  verses. 


LETTER  XI. 

TO  THE  REVEREND  FATHERS,  THE  JESUITS.* 

RIDICULE  A   FAIR  WEAPON  WHEN   EMPLOYED  AGAINST  ABSURD  OPIN- 
IONS— RULES   TO  BE   OBSERVED   IN   THE   USE   OF   THIS   WEAPON 

THE   PROFANE  BUFFOONERY  OF  FATHERS  LE  MOINE  AND  GARASSE. 

August  18,  1656. 

REVEREND  FATHERS, — I  have  seen  the  letters  which  you 
are  circulating  in  opposition  to  those  which  I  wrote  to  one 
of  my  friends  on  your  morality ;  and  I  perceive  that  one  of 
the  principal  points  of  your  defence  is,  that  I  have  not  spo- 
ken of  your  maxims  with  sufficient  seriousness.  This  charge 
you  repeat  in  all  your  productions,  and  carry  it  so  far  as  to 
allege,  that  I  have  been  "  guilty  of  turning  sacred  things  into 
ridicule." 

Such  a  charge,  fathers,  is  no  less  surprising  than  it  is  un- 
founded. Where  do  you  find  that  I  have  turned  sacred 
things  into  ridicule  ?  You  specify  "  the  Mohatra  contract, 
and  the  story  of  John  d'Alba."  But  are  these  what  you 
call  "  sacred  things  ?"  Does  it  really  appear  to  you  that  the 
Mohatra  is  something  so  venerable  that  it  would  be  blas- 
phemy not  to  speak  of  it  with  respect  ?  And  the  lessons  of 
Father  Bauny  on  larceny,  which  led  John  d'Alba  to  practise 
it  at  your  expense,  are  they  so  sacred  as  to  entitle  you  to 
stigmatize  all  who  laugh  at  them  as  profane  people  ? 

What,  fathers !  must  the  vagaries  of  your  doctors  pass  for 
the  verities  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  no  man  be  allowed  to 
ridicule  Escobar,  or  the  fantastical  and  unchristian  dogmas 

*  In  this  and  the  following  letters,  Pascal  changes  his  style,  from  that 
of  dialogue  to  that  of  direct  address,  and  from  that  of  the  liveliest  irony 
to  that  of  serious  inve"*ive  and  poignant  satire. 
10* 


226  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

of  your  authors,  without  being  stigmatized  as  jesting  at 
religion  ?  Is  it  possible  you  can  have  ventured  to  reiterate 
so  often  an  idea  so  utterly  unreasonable  ?  Have  you  no  fears 
that,  in  blaming  me  for  laughing  at  your  absurdities,  you 
may  only  afford  me  fresh  subject  of  merriment ;  that  you 
may  make  the  charge  recoil  on  yourselves,  by  showing  that 
I  have  really  selected  nothing  from  your  writings  as  the  mat- 
ter of  raillery,  but  what  was  truly  ridiculous ;  and  that  thus, 
in  making  a  jest  of  your  morality,  I  have  been  as  far  from 
jeering  at  holy  things,  as  the  doctrine  of  your  casuists  is  far 
from  the  holy  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  ? 

Indeed,  reverend  sirs,  there  is  a  vast  difference  between 
laughing  at  religion,  and  laughing  at  those  who  profane  it  by 
their  extravagant  opinions.  It  were  impiety  to  be  wanting 
in  respect  for  the  verities  which  the  Spirit  of  God  has  re- 
vealed ;  but  it  were  no  less  impiety  of  another  sort,  to  be 
wanting  in  contempt  for  the  falsities  which  the  spirit  of  man 
opposes  to  them.* 

For,  fathers  (since  you  will  force  me  into  this  argument), 
I  beseech  you  to  consider  that,  just  in.  proportion  as  Chris- 
tian truths  are  worthy  of  love  and  respect,  the  contrary 
errors  must  deserve  hatred  and  contempt ;  there  being  two 
things  in  the  truths  of  our  religion — a  divine  beauty  that 
renders  them  lovely,  and  a  sacred  majesty  that  renders  them 
venerable ;  and  two  things  also  about  errors — an  impiety, 
that  makes  them  horrible,  and  an  impertinence  that  renders 
them  ridiculous.  For  these  reasons,  while  the  saints  have 
ever  cherished  towards  the  truth  the  two-fold  sentiment  of 
love  and  fear — the  whole  of  their  wisdom  being  comprised 
between  fear,  which  is  its  beginning,  and  love,  which  is  its 
end — they  have,  at  the  same  time,  entertained  towards  error 
the  two-fold  feeling  of  hatred  and  contempt,  and  their  zeal 
has  been  at  once  employed  to  repel,  by  force  of  reasoning, 

*  "  Ref-gion.  they  tell  us.  ought  not  to  be  ridiculed ;  and  they  tell  us 
•Tilth:  yet  surely  the  corruptions  in  it  may  ;  for  we  are  taught  by  the 
tritest  maxim  in  the  world,  that  religion  being  the  best  of  things,  its  cor- 
ruptions are  likely  to  be  the  worst."  (Swift's  Apolotry  for  a  Tale  of  a 
Tub.) 


RIDICULE    USED    IN    SCRIPTCRK.  227 

the  malice  cf  the  wicked,  and  to  chastise,  by  the  aid  of  ridi- 
cule, their  extravagance  and  folly. 

Do  not  then  expect,  fathers,  to  make  people  believe  that 
it  is  unworthy  of  a  Christian  to  treat  error  with  derision. 
Nothing  is  easier  than  to  convince  all  who  were  not  aware  of 
it  before,  that  this  practice  is  perfectly  just — that  it  is  com- 
mon with  the  fathers  of  the  Church,  and  that  it  is  sanctioned 
by  Scripture,  by  the  example  of  the  best  of  saints,  and  even 
by  that  of  God  himself. 

Do  we  not  find  that  God  at  once  hates  and  despises  sinners ; 
so  that  even  at  the  hour  of  death,  when  their  condition  is 
most  sad  and  deplorable,  Divine  Wisdom  adds  mockery  to 
the  vengeance  which  consigns  them  to  eternal  punishment  ? 
"  In  interitu  vestro  ridebo  et  subsannabo^-I  will  laugh  at  your 
calamity."  The  saints,  too,  influenced  by  the  same  feeling, 
•will  join  in  the  derision ;  for,  according  to  David,  when  they 
witness  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  "  they  shall  fear,  and 
yet  laugh  at  it — videbunt  justi  et  timebunt,  et  super  eum  ride- 
bunt"  And  Job  says  :  "  Innocens  subsannabit  eos — The 
innocent  shall  laugh  at  them."* 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  here,  that  the  very  first  words 
which  God  addressed  to  man  after  his  fall,  contain,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  fathers,  "  bitter  irony"  and  mockery.  After 
Adam  had  disobeyed  his  Maker,  in  the  hope,  suggested  by 
the  devil,  of  being  like  God,  it  appears  from  Scripture  that 
God,  as  a  punishment,  subjected  him  to  death ;  and  after 
having  reduced  him  to  this  miserable  condition,  which  was 
due  to  his  sin,  he  taunted  him  in  that  state  with  the  follow- 
ing terms  of  derision  :  "  Behold,  the  man  has  become  as  one 
of  us! — Ecce,  Adam  quasi  unus  ex  nobis f" — which,  accord- 
ing to  St.  Jeromef  and  the  interpreters,  is  "  a  grievous  and 
cutting  piece  of  irony,"  with  which  God  "stung  him  to  the 

*  Prov.  i.  2G ;  Ps.  lii.  G ;  Job  xxii.  19.  In  the  first  passage,  the  figure 
is  evidently  what  theologians  call  anthropopathic,  or  speaking  of  God 
after  the  manner  of  men.  and  denotes  his  total  disregard  of  the  wicked 
in  the  clay  of  their  calamity. 

f  In  most  of  the  editions.it  is  "  St.  Chrysostom,"  but  I  have  followed 
that  of  Nicole. 


228  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

quick."  "  Adam,"  says  Rupert,  "  deserved  to  be  taunted  in 
this  manner,  and  he  would  be  naturally  made  to  feel  his  folly 
more  acutely  by  this  iromcal  expression  than  by  a  more  seri- 
ous one."  St.  Victor,  after  making  the  same  remark,  adds, 
"  that  this  irony  was  due  to  his  sottish  credulity,  and  that 
this  species  of  raillery  is  an  act  of  justice,  merited  by  him 
against  whom  it  was  directed."* 

Thus  you  see,  fathers,  that  ridicule  is,  in  some  cases,  a 
very  appropriate  means  of  reclaiming  men  from  their  errors, 
and  that  it  is  accordingly  an  act  of  justice,  because,  as  Jere- 
miah says,  "  the  actions  of  those  that  err  are  worthy  of  de- 
rision, because  of  their  vanity — vana  sunt  et  risu  digna." 
And  so  far  from  its  being  impious  to  laugh  at  them,  St  Au- 
gustine holds  it  to  be  the  effect  of  divine  wisdom  :  "  The 
wise  laugh  at  the  foolish,  because  they  are  wise,  not  after 
their  own  wisdom,  but  after  that  divine  wisdom  which  shall 
laugh  at  the  death  of  the  wicked." 

The  prophets,  accordingly,  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God, 
have  availed  themselves  of  ridicule,  as  we  find  from  the  ex- 
amples of  Daniel  and  Elias.  In  short,  examples  of  it  are 
not  wanting  in  the  discourses  of  Jesus  Christ  himself.  St. 
Augustine  remarks  that,  when  he  would  humble  Nicodemus, 
who  deemed  himself  so  expert  in  his  knowledge  of  the  law, 
"  perceiving  him  to  be  puffed  up  with  pride,  from  his  rank 

*  We  may  be  permitted  to  question  the  correctness  of  this  interpreta- 
tion, and  the  propriety  of  introducing  it  in  the  present  connection.  For 
the  former,  the  fathers,  not  Pascal,  are  responsible ;  as  to  the  latter,  it 
was  certainly  superfluous,  and  not  very  happy,  to  have  recourse  to  such 
an  example,  to  justify  the  use  of  ridicule  as  a  weapon  against  religious 
follies.  Among  other  writers,  the  Abbe  D'Artigny  is  very  severe  against 
our  author  on  this  score,  and  quotes  with  approbation  the  following 
censure  on  him :  li  Is  it  possible  that  a  man  of  such  genius  and  erudi- 
tion could  justify  the  most  criminal  excesses  by  such  respectable  exam- 
ples 1  Not  content  with  making  witty  old  fellows  of  the  prophets  and 
the  holy  fathers,  nothing  will  serve  him  but  to  make  us  believe  that  the 
Almighty  himself  has  furnished  us  with  precedents  for  the  most  bitter 
slanders  and  pleasantries — an  evident  proof  that  there  is  nothing  that 
an  author  will  not  seek  to  justify  when  he  follows  his  own  passion." 
(Nouveaux  Memoires  D'Artigny,  ii.  185.)  How  solemnly  and  elo- 
quently will  a  man  write  down  all  such  satires,  when  the  jest  is  pointed 
against  himself  and  his  party  !  D'Artigny  quotes,  within  a  few  pages, 
with  evident  relish,  a  bitter  satire  against  a  Protestant  minister. 


RIDICULE    USED    BY   THE    FATHERS.  229 

as  doctor  of  the  Jews,  he  first  beats  down  his  presumption 
by  the  magnitude  of  his  demands,  and  having  reduced  him  so 
low  that  he  was  unable  to  answer,  What !  says  lie,  you  a 
master  in  Israel,  and  not  know  these  things ! — as  if  he  had 
said,  Proud  ruler,  confess  that  thou  knowest  nothing."  St. 
Chrysostom  and  St.  Cyril  likewise  observe  upon  this,  that 
"  he  deserved  to  be  ridiculed  in  this  manner." 

You  may  learn  from  this,  fathers,  that  should  it  so  hap- 
pen, in  our  day,  that  persons  who  enact  the  jjart  of  "  mas- 
ters" among  Christians,  as  Nieodemus  and  the  Pharisees  did 
among  the  Jews,  show  themselves  so  ignorant  of  the  first 
principles  of  religion  as  to  maintain,  for  example,  that  "a 
man  may  be  saved  who  never  loved  God  all  his  life,"  we  only 
follow  the  example  of  Jesus  Christ,  when  we  laugh  at  such 
a  combination  of  ignorance  and  conceit. 

I  am  sure,  fathers,  these  sacred  examples  are  sufficient  to 
convince  you,  that  to  deride  the  errors  and  extravagances  of 
man  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  practice  of  the  saints  ;  other- 
wise we  must  blame  that  of  the  greatest  doctors  of  the 
Church,  who  have  been  guilty  of  it — such  as  St.  Jerome,  in 
his  letters  and  writings  against  Jovinian,  Vigilantius,  and  the 
Pelagians ;  Tertullian,  in  his  Apology  against  the  follies  of 
idolaters ;  St.  Augustine  against  the  monks  of  Africa,  whom 
he  styles  "  the  hairy  men ;"  St.  Irenaeus  the  Gnostics ;  St. 
Bernard  and  the  other  fathers  of  the  Church,  who,  having 
been  the  imitators  of  the  apostles,  ought  to  be  imitated  by 
the  faithful  in  all  time  coming ;  for,  say  what  we  will,  they 
are  the  true  models  for  Christians,  even  of  the  present 
day. 

In  following  such  examples,  I  conceived  that  I  could  not 
go  far  wrong  ;  and,  as  I  think  I  have  sufficiently  established 
this  position,  I  shall  only  add,  in  the  admirable  words  of 
Tertullian,  which  give  the  true  explanation  of  the  whole  of 
my  proceeding  in  this  matter:  "What  I  have  now  done  is 
only  a  little  sport  before  the  real  combat.  I  have  rather  in- 
dicated the  wounds  that  might  be  given  you,  than  inflicted 
any.  If  the  reader  has  met  with  passages  which  have  ex- 


230  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

cited  his  risibility,  he  must  ascribe  this  to  the  subjects  them- 
selves. There  are  many  things  which  deserve  to  be  held  up 
in  this  way  to  ridicule  and  mockery,  lest,  by  a  serious  refuta- 
tion, we  should  attach  a  weight  to  them  which  they  do  not 
deserve.  Nothing  is  more  due  to  vanity  than  laughter;  and 
it  is  the  Truth  properly  that  has  a  right  to  laugh,  because 
she  is  cheerful,  and  to  make  sport  of  her  enemies,  because 
she  is  sure  of  the  victory.  Care  must  be  taken,  indeed,  that  the 
raillery  is  not  too  low,  and  unworthy  of  the  truth ;  but,  keep- 
ing this  in  view,  when  ridicule  may  be  employed  with  effect, 
it  is  a  duty  to  avail  ourselves  of  it."  Do  you  not  think, 
fathers,  that  this  passage  is  singularly  applicable  to  our  sub- 
ject ?  The  letters  which  I  have  hitherto  written  are  "  merely 
a  little  sport  before  a  real  combat."  As  yet  I  have  been 
only  playing  with  the  foils,  and  "rather  indicating  the 
wounds  that  might  be  given  you  than  inflicting  any."  I  have 
merely  exposed  your  passages  to  the  light,  without  making 
almost  a  reflection  on  them.  "  If  the  reader  has  met  with 
any  that  have  excited  his  risibility,  he  must  ascribe  this  to 
the  subjects  themselves."  And,  indeed,  what  is  more  fitted 
to  raise  a  laugh,  than  to  see  a  matter  so  grave  as  that  of 
Christian  morality  decked  out  with  fancies  so  grotesque  as 
those  in  which  you  have  exhibited  it  ?  One  is  apt  to  form 
such  high  anticipations  of  these  maxims,  from  being  told  that 
"Jesus  Christ  himself  has  revealed  them  to  the  fathers  of 
the  Society,"  that  when  one  discovers  among  them  such  ab- 
surdities as  "  that  a  priest  receiving  money  to  say  mass,  may 
take  additional  sums  from  other  persons  by  giving  up  to  them 
his  own  share  in  the  sacrifice ;"  "  that  a  monk  is  not  to  be  ex- 
communicated for  putting  off  his  habit,  provided  it  is  to 
dance,  swindle,  or  go  incognito  into  infamous  houses  ;"  and 
"that  the  duty  of  hearing  mass  may  be  fulfilled  by  listening 
to  four  quarters  of  a  mass  at  once  from  different  priests" — 
when,  I  say,  one  listens  to  such  decisions  as  these,  the  sur- 
prise is  such  that  it  is  impossible  to  refrain  from  laughing ; 
for  nothing  is  more  calculated  to  produce  that  emotion  than 
a  startling  contrast  between  the  thing  looked  for  and  the 


ABSURDITIES    OF    THE    CASUISTS.  231 

thing  looked  at.  And  why  should  the  greater  part  of  these 
maxims  be  treated  in  any  other  way  ?  As  Tei'tullian  says, 
"To  treat  them  seriously  would  be  to  sanction  them." 

What !  is  it  necessary  to  bring  up  all  the  forces  of  Scrip- 
ture and  tradition,  in  order  to  prove  that  running  a  sword 
through  a  man's  body,  covertly  and  behind  his  back,  is  to 
murder  him  in  treachery  ?  or,  that  to  give  one  money  as  a 
motive  to  resign  a  benefice,  is  to  purchase  the  benefice? 
Yes,  there  are  things  which  it  is  duty  to  despise,  and  which 
"  deserve  only  to  be  laughed  at."  In  short,  the  remark  of 
that  ancient  author,  "  that  nothing  is  more  due  to  vanity 
than  derision,"  with  what  follows,  applies  to  the  case  before 
us  so  justly  and  so  convincingly,  as  to  put  it  beyond  all 
question  that  we  may  laugh  at  errors  without  violating  pro- 
priety. 

And  let  me  add,  fathers,  that  this  may  be  done  without 
any  breach  of  charity  either,  though  this  is  another  of  the 
charges  you  bring  against  me  in  your  publications.  For,  ac- 
cording to  St.  Augustine,  "  charity  may  sometimes  oblige  us 
to  ridicule  the  errors  of  men,  that  they  may  be  induced  to 
laugh  at  them  in  their  turn,  and  renounce  them — Hcec  tu 
misericorditer  irride,  ut  eis  ridenda  ac  fugienda,  commendes" 
And  the  same  charity  may  also,  at  other  times,  bind  us  to 
repel  them  with  indignation,  according  to  that  other  saying 
of  St.  Gregory  of  Nazianzen :  "  The  spirit  of  meekness  and 
charity  hath  its  emotions  and  its  heats."  Indeed,  as  St.  Au- 
gustine observes,  "who  would  venture  to  say  that  truth 
ought  to  staud  disarmed  against  falsehood,  or  that  the  ene- 
mies of  the  faith  shall  be  at  liberty  to  frighten  the  faithful 
with  hard  words,  and  jeer  at  them  with  lively  sallies  of  wit; 
•while  the  Catholics  ought  never  to  write  except  with  a  cold- 
ness of  style  enough  to  set  the  reader  asleep  ?" 

Is  it  not  obvious  that,  by  following  such  a  course,  a  wide 
door  would  be  «_»pened  for  the  introduction  of  the  most  ex- 
travagant and  pernicious  dogmas  into  the  Church ;  while 
none  would  be  allowed  to  treat  them  with  contempt,  through 
fear  of  being  charged  with  violatag  propriety,  or  (o  confute 


232  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

them  with  indignation,  from  the  dread  of  being  taxed  svith 
want  of  charity  ? 

Indeed,  fathers !  shall  you  be  allowed  to  maintain,  "  that 
it  is  lawful  to  kill  a  man  to  avoid  a  box  on  the  ear  or  an 
affront,"  and  must  nobody  be  permitted  publicly  to  expose 
a  public  error  of  such  consequence  ?  Shall  you  be  at  liberty 
to  say,  "  that  a  judge  may  in  conscience  retain  a  fee  received 
for  an  act  of  injustice,"  and  shall  no  one  be  at  liberty  to 
contradict  you  ?  Shall  you  print,  with  the  privilege  and  ap- 
probation of  your  doctors,  "  that  a  man  may  be  saved  with- 
out ever  having  loved  God ;"  and  will  you  shut  the  mouth 
of  those  who  defend  the  true  faith,  by  telling  them  that  they 
would  violate  brotherly  love  by  attacking  you,  and  Christian 
modesty  by  laughing  at  your  maxims  ?  I  doubt,  fathers,  if 
there  be  any  persons  whom  you  could  make  believe  this  ;  if, 
however,  there  be  any  such,  who  are  really  persuaded  that, 
by  denouncing  your  morality,  I  have  been  deficient  in  the 
charity  which  I  owe  to  you,  I  would  have  them  examine, 
with  great  jealousy,  whence  this  feeling  takes  its  rise  within 
them.  They  may  imagine  that  it  proceeds  from  a  holy  zeal, 
which  will  not  allow  them  to  see  their  neighbor  impeached 
without  being  scandalized  at  it ;  but  I  would  entreat  them 
to  consider,  that  it  is  not  impossible  that  it  may  flow  from 
another  source,  and  that  it  is  even  extremely  likely  that  it 
may  spring  from  that  secret,  and  often  self-concealed  dissat- 
isfaction, which  the  unhappy  corruption  within  us  seldom 
fails  to  stir  up  against  those  who  oppose  the  relaxation  of 
morals.  And  to  furnish  them  with  a  rule  which  may  enable 
them  to  ascertain  the  real  principle  from  which  it  proceeds, 
I  will  ask  them,  if,  while  they  lament  the  way  in  which  the 
religious*  have  been  treated,  they  lament  still  more  the  man- 
ner in  which  these  religious  have  treated  the  truth.  If  they 
are  incensed,  not  only  against  the  letters,  but  still  more 
against  the  maxims  quoted  in  them,  I  shall  grant  it  to  be 
barely  possible  that  their  resentment  proceeds  from  some 

*  "  Religious,"  is  a  general  term,  applied  in  the  Romish  Church  to 
all  who  are  in  holy  orders. 


CHARGE    OF    UXCHARITABLEXESS.  233 

zeal,  though  not  of  the  most  enlightened  kind;  and,  in  this 
case,  the  passages  I  have  just  cited  from  the  fathers  will 
serve  to  enlighten  them.  But  if  they  are  merely  angry  at 
the  reprehension,  and  not  at  the  things  reprehended,  truly, 
fathers,  I  shall  never  scruple  to  tell  them  that  they  are 
grossly  mistaken,  and  that  their  zeal  is  miserably  blind. 

Strange  zeal,  indeed  !  which  gets  angry  at  those  that  cen 
sure  public  faults,  and  not  at  those  that  commit  them  !  Novel 
charity  this,  which  groans  at  seeing  error  confuted,  but  feels 
no  grief  at  seeing  morality  subverted  by  that  error !  If  these 
persons  were  in  danger  of  being  assassinated,  pray,  would 
they  be  offended  at  one  advertising  them  of  the  stratagem 
that  had  been  laid  for  them ;  and  instead  of  turning  out  of 
their  way  to  avoid  it,  would  they  trifle  away  their  time  in 
whining  about  the  little  charity  manifested  in  discovering  to 
them  the  criminal  design  of  the  assassins?  Do  they  get 
waspish  when  one  tells  them  not  to  eat  such  an  article  of 
food,  because  it  is  poisoned  ?  or  not  to  enter  such  a  city,  be- 
cause it  has  the  plague  ?  -*- 

Whence  comes  it,  then,  that  the  same  persons  who  set 
down  a  man  as  wanting  in  charity,  for  exposing  maxims  hurt- 
ful to  religion,  would,  on  the  contrary,  think  him  equally  de- 
ficient in  that  grace  were  he  not  to  disclose  matters  hurtful 
to  health  and  life,  unless  it  be  from  this, 'that  their  fondness 
for  life  induces  them  to  take  in  good  part  every  hint  that  con- 
tributes to  its  preservation,  while  their  indifference  to  truth 
leads  them,  not  only  to  take  no  share  in  its  defence,  but  even 
to  view  with  pain  the  efforts  made  for  the  extirpation  of  false- 
hood ? 

Let  them  seriously  ponder,  as  in  the  sight  of  God,  now 
shameful,  and  how  prejudicial  to  the  Church,  is  the  morality 
which  your  casuists  are  in  the  habit  of  propagating;  the 
scandalous  and  unmeasured  license  which  they  are  introdu- 
cing into  public  manners  ;  the  obstinate  and  violent  hardihood 
with  which  you  support  them.  And  if  they  do  not  think  it 
full  time  to  rise  against  such  disorders,  their  blindness  is  as 
much  to  be  pitied  as  yours,  fathers  ;  and  you  and  they  have 


234  PBOVIJSCJAL   LETTERS. 

equal  reason  to  dread  that  saying  of  St.  Augustine,  founded 
on  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the  Gospel:  "Woe  to  the 
blind  leaders !  woe  to  the  blind  followers  ! —  Fa?  ccecis  ducen- 
tibus  !  vce  ccecis  sequentibus  /" 

But  to  leave  you  no  room  in  future,  either  to  create  such 
impressions  on  the  minds  of  others,  or  to  harbor  them  in  your 
own,  I  shall  tell  you,  fathers  (and  I  am  ashamed  I  should 
have  to  teach  you  what-  I  should  have  rather  learnt  from 
you),  the  marks  which  the  fathers  of  the  Church  have  given 
for  judging  when  our  animadversions  flow  from  a  principle 
of  piety  and  charity,  and  when  from  a  spirit  of  malice  and 
impiety. 

The  first  of  these  rules  is,  that  the  spirit  of  piety  always 
prompts  us  to  speak  with  sincerity  and  truthfulness ;  where- 
as malice  and  envy  make  use  of  falsehood  and  calumny. 
"  Splendentia  et  vehementia,  sed  rebus  veris — Splendid  and 
vehement  in  words,  but  true  in  things,"  as  St.  Augustine 
says.  The  dealer  in  falsehood  is  an  agent  of  the  devil.  No 
direction  of  the  intention  can  sanctify  slander ;  and  though 
the  conversion  of  the  whole  earth  should  depend  on  it,  no 
man  may  warrantably  calumniate  the  innocent :  because  none 
may  do  the  least  evil,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  greatest 
good  ;  and,  as  the  Scripture  says,  "  the  truth  of  God  stands 
in  no  need  of  our  -lie."  St.  Hilary  observes,  that  "  it  is  the 
bou'nden  duty  of  the  advocates  of  truth,  to  advance  nothing 
in  its  support  but  true  things."  Now,  fathers,  I  can  declare 
before  God,  that  there  is  nothing  that  I  detest  more  than  the 
slightest  possible  deviation  from  the  truth,  and  that  I  have  ever 
taken  the  greatest  ca7-e,  not  only  not  to  falsify  (which  would  be 
horrible),  but  not  to  alter  or  wrest,  in  the  slightest  possible 
degree,  the  sense  of  a  single  passage.  So  closely  have  I  ad- 
hered to  this  rule,  that  if  I  may  presume  to  apply  them  to 
the  present  case,  I  may  safely  say,  in  the  words  of  the  same 
St.  Hilary :  "  If  we  advance  things  that  are  false,  let  our 
statements  be  branded  with  infamy ;  but  if  we  can  show  that 
they  are  public  and  notorious,  it  is  no  breach  of  apostolic 
modesty  or  liberty  to  expose  them." 


DISCRETION    OF   THE    LETTERS.  235 

It  is  not  enough,  however,  to  tell  nothing  but  the  truth ; 
we  must  not  always  tell  everything  that  is  true  ;  we  should 
publish  only  those  things  which  it  is  useful  to  disclose,  and 
not  those  which  can  only  hurt,  without  doing  any  good.  And, 
therefore,  as  the  first  rule  is  to  speak  with  truth,  the  second 
is  to  speak  with  discretion.  "The  wicked,"  says  St.  Augus- 
tine, "  in  persecuting  the  good,  blindly  follow  the  dictates  of 
their  passion  ;  but  the  good,  in  their  prosecution  of  the  wick- 
ed, are  guided  by  a  wise  discretion,  even  as  the  surgeon  war- 
ily considers  where  he  is  cutting,  while  the  murderer  cares 
not  where  he  strikes."  You  must  be  sensible,  fathers,' that 
in  selecting  from  the  maxims  of  your  authors,  I  have  refrained 
from  quoting  those  which  would  have  galled  you  most,  though 
I  might  have  done  it,  and  that  without  sinning  against  dis- 
cretion, as  othets  who  were  both  learned  and  catholic  writers, 
have  done  before  me.  All  who  have  read  your  authors  know 
how  far  I  have  spared  you  in  this  respect.*  Besides,  I  have 
taken  no  notice  whatever  of  what  might  be  brought  against 
individual  characters  among  you ;  and  I  would  have  been  ex- 
tremely sorry  to  have  said  a  word  about  secret  and  personal 
failings,  whatever  evidence  I  might  have  of  them,  being  per- 
suaded that  this  is  the  distinguishing  property  of  malice,  and 
a  practice  which  ought  never  to  be  resorted  to,  unless  where 
it  is  urgently  demanded  for  the  good  of  the  Church.  It  is 
obvious,  therefore,  that  in  what  I  have  been  compelled  to  ad- 
vance against  your  moral  maxims,  I  have  been  by  no  means 
wanting  in  due  consideration  :  and  that  you  have  more  reason 
to  congratulate  yourself  on  my  moderation  than  to  complain 
of  my  indiscretion. 

The  third  rule,  fathers,  is :  That  when  there  is  need  to  em- 
ploy a  little  raillery,  the  spirit  of  piety  will  take  care  to  em- 
ploy it  against  error  only,  and  not  against  things  holy ; 

*  '•  So  far,"  says  Nicole,  "from  his  having  told  all  that  he  might 
against  the  Jesuits,  he  has  spared  them  on  points  so  essential  and  im- 
portant, that  all  who  have  a  complete  knowledge  of  their  maxims  have 
admiral  his  moderation."  "  What  would  have  been  the  case."  asks  an- 
other writer,  "  had  Pascal  exposed  the  late  infamous  things  put  out  by 
their  miserable  casuists,  and  unfolded  the  chain  and  succession  of  their 
regicide  authors'?"  (Dissertation  sur  la  foi  due  au  Pascal,  &c.,  p.  14.) 


236  ^PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

whereas  the  spirit  of  buffoonery,  impiety,  and  heresy,  mocks 
at  all  that  is  most  sacred.  I  have  already  vindicated  myself 
on  that  score ;  and  indeed  there  is  no  great  danger  of  falling 
into  that  vice  so  long  as  I  confine  my  remarks  to  the  opinions 
•which  I  have  quoted  from  your  authors. 

In  short,  fathers,  to  abridge  these  rules,  I  shall  only  men- 
tion another,  which  is  the  essence  and  the  end  of  all  the  rest : 
That  the  spirit  of  charity  prompts  us  to  cherish  in  the  heart 
a  desire  for  the  salvation  of  those  against  whom  we  dispute, 
and  to  address  our  prayers  to  G  -)d  while  we  direct  our  accu- 
sations to  men.  "We  ought  ever,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "to 
preserve  charity  in  the  heart,  even  while  we  are  obliged  to 
pursue  a  line  of  external  conduct  which  to  man  has  the  ap- 
pearance of  harshness  ;  we  ought  to  smite  them  with  a  sharp- 
ness, severe  but  kindly,  remembering  that  th^ir  advantage  is 
more  to  be  studied  than  their  gratification."  I  am  sure,  fa- 
thers, that  there  is  nothing  in  my  letters,  from  which  it  can 
be  inferred  that  I  have  not  cherished  such  a  desire  towards 
you ;  and  as  you  can  find  nothing  to  the  contrary  in  them, 
charity  obliges  you  to  believe  that  I  have  been  really  actuated 
by  it.  It  appears,  then,  that  you  cannot  prove  that  I  have 
offended  against  this  rule,  or  against  any  of  the  other  rules 
which  charity  inculcates  ;  and  you  have  no  right  to  say, 
therefore,  that  I  have  violated  it. 

But,  fathers,  if  you  should  now  like  to  have  the  pleasure 
of  seeing,  within  a  short  compass,  a  course  of  conduct  directly 
at  variance  with  each  of  these  rules,  and  bearing  the  genuine 
stamp  of  the  spirit  of  buffoonery,  envy,  and  hatred,  I  shall 
give  you  a  few  examples  of  it ;  and  that  they  may  be  of  the 
sort  best  known  and  most  familiar  to  you,  I  shall  extract 
them  from  your  own  writings. 

To  begin,  then,  with  the  unworthy  manner  in  which  your 
authors  speak  of  holy  things,  whether  in  their  sportive  and 
gallant  effusions,  or  in  their  more  serious  pieces,  do  you  think 
that  the  parcel  of  ridiculous  stories,  which  your  father  Binet 
has  introduced  into  his  "Consolation  to  the  Sick,"  are 
exa(  tly  suitable  to  his  professed  object,  which  is  that  of  im- 


GENUINE    PROFANENESS  237 

parting  Christian  consolation  to  those  whom  God  has  chast- 
ened with  affliction  ?  Will  you  pretend  to  say,  that  the 
profane,  foppish  style  in  which  your  Father  Le  Moine  has 
tsilked  of  piety  in  his  "Devotion  made  Eisy,v  is  more  fitted 
to  inspire  respect  than  contempt  for  the  picture  that  he  draws 
of  Christian  virtue  ?  What  else  does  his  whole  book  of 
"  Moral  Pictures"  breathe,  both  in  its  prose  and  poetry,  but 
a  spirit  full  of  vanity,  and  the  follies  of  this  world  ?  Take, 
for  example,  that  ode  in  his  seventh  book,  entitled,  "Eulogy 
on  Bashfulness,  showing  that  all  beautiful  things  are  red,  or 
inclined  to  redden."  Call  you  that  a  production  worthy  of 
a  priest  ?  The  ode  is  intended  to  comfort  a  lady,  called 
Delphina,  who  was  sadly  addicted  to  blushing.  Each  stanza 
is  devoted  to  show  that  certain  red  things  are  the  best  of 
things,  such  as  roses,  pomegranates,  the  mouth,  the  tongue ; 
and  it  is  in  the  midst  of  this  badinage,  so  disgraceful  in  a 
clergyman,  that  he  has  the  effrontery  to  introduce  those 
blessed  spirits  that  minister  before  God,  and  of  whom  no 
Christian  should  speak  without  reverence  : — 

"  The  cherubim — those  glorious  choirs — 

Composed  of  head  and  plumes, 
Whom  God  with  his  own  Spirit  inspires, 

And  with  his  eyes  illumes. 
These  splendid  facos,  as  they  fly, 
Are  ever  red  and  burning  high, 
With  fjre  angelic  or  divine; 
And  while  their  mutual  flames  combine, 
The  waving  of  their  wings  supplies 
A  fan  to  cool  their  extacies  ! 
But  redness  shines  with  better  grace, 
Delphina,  on  thy  beauteous  face, 
Where  modesty  sits  revelling — 
Arrayed  in  purple,  like  a  king,"  &c. 

What  think  you  of  this,  fathers  ?  Does  this  preference 
of  the  blushes  of  Delphina  to  the  ardor  of  those  spirits,  which 
is  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  ardor  of  divine  love,  and 
this  simile  of  the  fan  applied  to  their  mysterious  wings, 
Btrike  you  as  being  very  Christian-like  in  the  lips  which  con- 


238  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

secrate  the  adorable  body  of  Jesus  Christ?  I  am  quite 
aware  that  he  speaks  only  in  the  character  ef  a  gallant,  and 
to  raise  a  smile ;  but  this  is  precisely  what  is  called  laughing 
at  things  holy.  And  is  it  not  certain,  that,  were  he  to  get 
full  justice,  he  could  not  save  himself  from  incurring  a  cen- 
sure ?  although,  to  shield  himself  from  this,  he  pleads  an 
excuse  which  is  hardly  less  censurable  than  the  offence, 
"that  the  Sorbonne  has  no  jurisdiction  over  Parnassus,  and 
that  the  errors  of  that  land  are  subject  neither  to  censure  nor 
the  Inquisition;" — as  if  one  could  act  the  blasphemer  and 
profane  fellow  only  in  prose  !  There  is  another  passage, 
however, 'in  the  preface,  where  even  this  excuse  fails  him, 
when  he  says,  "  that  the  water  of  the  river,  on  whose  banks 
he  composes  his  verses,  is  so  apt  to  make  poets,  that,  though 
it  were  converted  into  holy  water,  it  would  not  chase  away 
the  demon  of  poesy."  To  match  this,  I  may  add  the  follow- 
ing flight  of  your  Father  Garasse,  in  his  "  Summary  of  the 
Capital  Truths  in  Religion,"  where,  speaking  of  the  sacred 
mystery  of  the  incarnation,  he  mixes  up  blasphemy  and  her- 
esy in  this  fashion :  "  The  human  personality  was  grafted,  as 
it  were,  or  set  on  horseback,  upon  the  personality  of  the 
Word  !"*  And  omitting  many  others,  I  might  mention  an- 
other passage  from  the  same  author,  who,  speaking  on  the 
subject  of  the  name  of  Jesus,  ordinarily  written  thus,  L  e.  s. 
observes  that  "  some  have  taken  away  the  cross  from  the 
top  of  it,  leaving  the  characters  barely  thus,  I.  H.  S. — which," 
says  he,  "  is  a  stripped  Jesus  !" 

Such  is  the  indecency  with  which  you  treat  the  truths  of 
religion,  in  the  face  of  the  inviolable  law  which  binds  us  al- 
ways to  speak  of  them  with  reverence.  But  you  have  sinned 
no  less  flagrantly  against  the  rule  which  obliges  us  to  speak 
of  them  with  truth  and  discretion.  What  is  more  common 


*  The  apologists  of  the  Jesuits  attempted  to  justify  this  extraordinary 
illustration,  by  referring  to  the  use  which  Augustine  and  other  fathers 
make  of  the  parable  of  the  good  Sanr  iritan  who  l;  set  on  his  own  beast" 
the  wounded  traveller.  But  Nicole  has  shown  that  fanciful  as  these 
ancient  interpreters  oflenwere.it  is  doing  them  injustice  to  faifier  on 
them  the  absurdity  of  Father  Garasse.  (Nicole's  Note*,  iii.  340.) 


CALUMNY.  239 

in  your  writings  than  calumny  ?  Can  those  of  Father  Bri- 
sacier*  be  called  sincere  ?  Does  he  speak  with  truth  when 
he  says,  that  "  the  nuns  of  Port-Royal  do  not~  pray  to  the 
saints,  and  have  no  images  in  their  church  ?"  Are  not  these 
most  outrageous  falsehoods,  when  the  contrary  appears  before 
the  eyes  of  all  Paris  ?  And  can  he  be  said  to  speak  with 
discretion,  when  he  stabs  the  fair  reputation  of  these  virgins, 
who  lead  a  life  so  pure  and  austere,  representing  them  as 
"  impenitent,  unsacramentalists,  uncommunicants,  foolish  vir- 
gins, visionaries,  Calagans,  desperate  creatures,  and  anything 
you  please,"  loading  them  with  many  other  slanders,  which 
have  justly  incurred  the  censure  of  the  late  Archbishop  of 
Paris  ?  or  when  he  calumniates  priests  of  the  most  irreproach- 
able morals,f  by  asserting  "  that  they  practise  novelties  in 
confession,  to  entrap  handsome  innocent  females,  and  that  he 
would  be  horrified  to  tell  the  abominable  crimes  which  they 
commit."  Is  it  not  a  piece  of  intolerable  assurance,  to  ad- 
vance slanders  so  black  and  base,  not  merely  without  proof, 
but  without  the  slightest  shadow,  or  the  most  distant  sem- 
blance of  truth  ?  I  shall  not  enlarge  on  this  topic,  but  defer 
it  to  a  future  occasion,  for  I  have  something  more  to  say  to 
you  about  it ;  but  what  I  have  now  produced  is  enough  to 
show  that  you  have  sinned  at  once  against  truth  and  disr 
cretion. 

But  it  may  be  said,  perhaps,  that  you  have  not  offended 
against  the  last  rule  at  least,  which  binds  you  to  desire  the 
salvation  of  those  whom  you  denounce,  and  that  none  can 
charge  you  with  this,  except  by  unlocking  the  secrets  of 
your  breasts,  which  are  only  known  to  God.  It  is  strange, 
fathers,  but  true,  nevertheless,  that  we  can  convict  you  even 
of  this  offence ;  that  while  your  hatred  to  your  opponents 
has  carried  you  so  far  as  to  wish  their  eternal  perdition,  youi 

*  Brisacier.  who  became  rector  of  the  College  of  Rouen,  was  a  bitter 
enemy  of  the  Port-Royalists.  His  defamatory  libel  against  the  nuns  of 
Port-Royal,  entitled  •'  Le  Jansenisme  Confondu."  published  in  1651, 
was  censured  by  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  and  vigorously  assailed  by 
M.  Arr.auld. 

t  TV  priests  of  Port- Royal. 


240  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

infatuation  has  driven  you  to  discover  the  abominable  wish  ; 
that  so  far  from  cherishing  in  secret  desires  for  their  salva- 
tion, you  have  offered  up  prayers  in  public  for  their  damna- 
tion ;  and  that,  after  having  given  utterance  to  that  hideous 
vow  in  the  city  of  Caen,  to  the  scandal  of  the  whole  Church, 
you  have  since  then  ventured,  iu  Paris,-  to  vindicate,  in  your 
printed  books,  the  diabolical  transaction.  After  such  gross 
offences  against  piety,  first  ridiculing  and  speaking  lightly  of 
things  the 'most  sacred;  next  falsely  and  scandalously  ca- 
lumniating priests  and  virgins  ;  and  lastly,  forming  desires 
and  prayers  for  their  damnation,  it  would  be  difficult  to  add 
anything  worse.  I  cannot  conceive,  fathers,  how  you  can 
fail  *to  be  ashamed  of  yourselves,  or  how  you  could  have 
thought  for  an  instant  of  charging  me  with  a  want  of  charity, 
who  have  acted  all  along  with  so  much  truth  and  moderation, 
without  reflecting  on  your  own  horrid  violations  of  charity, 
manifested  in  those  deplorable  exhibitions,  which  make  the 
charge  recoil  against  yourselves. 

In  fine,  fathers,  to  conclude  with  another  charge  which  you 
bring  against  me,  I  see  you  complain  that  among  the  vast 
number  of  your  maxims  which  I  quote,  there  are  some  which 
have  been  objected  to  already,  and  that  I  "  say  over  again, 
what  others  have  said  before  me."  To  this' I  reply,  that  it  is 
jast  because  you  have  not  profited  by  what  has  been  said  be- 
fore, that  I  say  it  over  again.  Tell  me  now  what  fruit  has 
appeared  from  all  the  castigations  you  have  received  in  all 
the  books  written  by  learned  doctors,  and  even  the  whole 
university  ?  What  more  have  your  fathers  Annat,  Caussin, 
Pintereau,  and  Le  Moine  done,  in  the  replies  they  have  put 
forth,  except  loading  with  reproaches  those  who  had  given 
them  salutary  admonitions  ?  Have  you  suppressed  the  books 
in  which  these  nefarious  maxims  are  taught  ?*  Have  you 

*  This  is  the  real  question,  which  brings  the  matter  to  n  point,  and 
serves  to  answer  all  the  evasions  of  the  Jesuits  They  boast  of  their 
unity  as  a  society  and  their  blind  obedience  to  th?ir  head.  Have  they, 
then,  ever,  as  a  society  disclaimed  thes?  maxims  1 — have  they  even,  as 
such.,  condemned,  the  sentiments  of  their  fathers  Becan.  M-iriana.  and 
others,  on  the  dutv  of  dethroning  and  assassinating  heretical  kings  1 


PERTINACITY  or  THE  JESUITS.  241 

restrained  the  authors  of  these  maxims  ?  Have  you  become 
more  circumspect  in  regard  to  them  ?  On  the  contrary,  is 
it  not  the  fact,  that  since  that  time  Escobar  has  been  repeat- 
edly reprinted  in  France  and  in  the  Low  Countries,  and  that 
your  fathers  Cellot,  Bagot,  Bauny,  Lamy,  Le  Moine,  and 
others,  persist  in  publishing  daily  the  same  maxims  over 
again,  or  new  ones  as  licentious  as  ever  ?  Let  us  hear  no 
more  complaints,  then,  fathers,  either  because  I  have  charged 
you  with  maxims  which  you  have,  not  disavowed,  or  because 
I  have  objected  to  some  new  ones  against  you,  or  because  I 
have  laughed  equally  at  them  all.  You  have  only  to  sit  down 
and  look  at  them,  to  see  at  once  your  own  confusion  and  my 
defence.  Who  can  look  without  laughing  at  the  decision  of 
Bauny,  respecting  the  person  who  employs  another  to  set 
fire  to  his  neighbor's  barn  ;  that  of  Cellot  on  restitution ;  the 
rule  of  Sanchez  in  favor  of  sorcerers ;  the  plan  of  Hurtado 
for  avoiding  the  sin  of  duelling  by  taking  a  walk  through  a 
field,  and  waiting  for  a  man ;  the  compliments  of  Bauny  for 
escaping  usury ;  the  way  of  avoiding  simony  by  a  detour  of 
the  intention,  and  keeping  clear  of  falsehood  by  speaking  high 
and  low  ;  and  such  other  opinions  of  your  most  grave  and 
reverend  doctors  ?  Is  there  anything  more  necessary,  fathers, 
for  my  vindication  ?  and  as  Tertullian  says,  "  can  anything 
be  more  justly  due  to  the  vanity  and  weakness  of  these  opin- 
ions than  laughter?"  But,  fathers,  the  corruption  of  man- 
ners to  which  your  maxims  Iea4»jleserves  another  sort  of 
consideration ;  and  it  becomes  us  to  ask,  with  the  same  an- 
cient writer,  "  Whether  ought  we  to  laugh  at  their  folly,  or 
deplore  their  blindness  ? — Rideam  vanitatem,  an  exprobrem 
ccecitatem  ?"  My  humble  opinion  is,  that  one  may  either 
laugh  at  them  or  weep  over  them,  as  one  is  in  the  humor. 
Hcec  tolerdbilius  vel  ridenlur,  vel  flentur,  as  St.  Augustine 
says.  The  Scripture  tells  us  that  "  there  is  a  time  to  laugh, 
and  a  time  to  weep ;"  and  my  hope  is,  fathers,  that  I  may 
not  find  verified,  in  your  case,  these  words  in  the  Proverbs : 

They  have  not ;  and  till  this  is  done,  they  most  be  held,  as  Jesuits,  re- 
epoDsible  for  the  sentiments  which  they  refuge  to  disavow, 
ll" 


242  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

"  If  a  wise  man  contendeth  with  a  foolish  man,  whether  he 
rage  or  laugh,  there  is  no  rest."* 

P.  S. — On  finishing  this  letter,  there  was  put  in  my  hands 
one  of  your  publications,  in  which  you  accuse  me  of  falsifica- 
tion, in  the  case  of  six  of  your  maxims  quoted  by  me,  and 
also  with  being  in  correspondence  with  heretics.  You  will 
shortly  receive,  I  trust,  a  suitable  reply ;  after  which,  fathers, 
I  rather  think  you  will  not  feel  very  anxious  to  continue  this 
species  of  warfare.f 

*  Prov.  xxix.  9. 

•f-  This  postscript,  which  appeared  in  the  earlier  editions,  is  dropt  in 
that  of  Nicole  and  others. 


LETTER  XII. 

TO  THE  REVEREND  FATHERS,  THE  ;ESUITS. 

REFUTATION  OF    THEIR   CHICANERIES   REGARDING   ALMS-GIVING   AND 
SIMONY. 

September  9,  1656. 

REVEREND  FATHERS, — I  was  prepared  to  write  you  on  the 
subject  of  the  abuse  with  which  you  have  for  some  time  past 
been  assailing  me  in  your  publications,  in  which  you  salute 
me  with  such  epithets  as  "  reprobate,"  "  buffoon,"  "  block- 
head," " merry- Andrew,"  "impostor,"  "slanderer,"  "cheat," 
"  heretic,"  "  Calvinist  in  disguise,"  "  disciple  of  Du  Moulin,"* 
"  possessed  with  a  legion  of  devils,"  and  everything  else  you 
can  think  of.  As  I  should  be  sorry  to  have  all  this  believed 
of  me,  I  was  anxious  to  show  the  public  why  you  treated  me 
in  this  manner  ;  and  I  had  resolved  to  complain  of  your  cal- 
umnies and  falsifications,  when  I  met  with  your  Answers,  in 
which  you  bring  these  same  charges  against  myself.  This 
will  compel  me  to  alter  my  plan ;  though  it  will  not  prevent 
me  from  prosecuting  it  in  some  sort,  for  I  hope,  while  de- 
fending myself,  to  convict  you  of  impostures  more  genuine 
than  the  imaginary  ones  which  you  have  ascribed  to  me. 
Indeed,  fathers,  the  suspicion  of  foul  play  is  much  more  sure 
to  rest  on  you  than  on  me.  It  is  not  very  likely,  standing 

*  Pierre  du  Moulin  is  termed  by  Bayle  •'  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
ministers  which  the  Reformed  Church  in  France  ever  had  to  boast  of." 
He  was  born  in  1568,  and  was  for  some  time  settled  in  Paris ;  but  having 
incurred  the  resentment  of  Louis  XIII.,  he  retired  to  Sedan  in  1G23, 
where  he  became  a  professor  in  the  Protestant  University,  and  died,  in 
the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age,  in  1658,  two  years  after  the  time  when 
Pascal  wrote.  Of  his  numerous  writings,  few  are  known  in  this  coun- 
try, excepting  his  "  Buckler  of  the  Faith,"  and  his  '•  Anatomy  of  the 
Mass,"  which  were  translated  into  English.  (Quick's  Synodicon,  ii., 
105.) 


244  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

as  I  do,  alone,  without  power  or  any  human  defence,  againsl 
such  a  large  body,  and  having  no  support  but  truth  and  in- 
tegrity, that  I  would  expose  myself  to  lose  everything,  by 
laying  myself  open  to  be  convicted  of  imposture.  It  is  too 
easy  to  discover  falsifications  in  matters  of  fact  such  as  the 
present.  In  such  a  case  there  would  have  been  no  want  of 
persons  to  accuse  me,  nor  would  justice  have  been  denied 
them.  With  you,  fathers,  the  case  is  very  different ;  you 
may  say  as  much  as  you  please  against  me,  while  I  may  look 
in  vain  for  any  to  complain  to.  With  such  a  wide  difference 
between  our  positions,  though  there  had  been  no  other  con- 
sideration to  restrain  me,  it  became  me  to  study  no  little 
caution.  By  treating  me,  however,  as  a  common  slanderer, 
you  compel  me  to  assume  the  defensive,  and  you  must  be 
aware  that  this  cannot  be  done  without  entering  into  a  fresh 
exposition,  and  even  into  a  fuller  disclosure  of  the  points  of 
your  morality.  In  provoking  this  discussion,  I  fear  you  are 
not  acting  as  good  politicians.  The  war  must  be  waged 
within  your  own  camp,  and  at  your  own  expense  ;  and  al- 
though you  imagine  that,  by  embroiling  the  questions  with 
scholastic  terms,  the  answers  will  be  so  tedious,  thorny,  and 
obscure,  that  people  will  lose  all  relish  for  the  controversy, 
this  may  not,  perhaps,  turn  out  to  be  exactly  the  case ;  I 
shall  use  my  best  endeavors  to  tax  your  patience  as  little  as 
possible  with  that  sort  of  writing.  Your  maxims  have  some- 
thing diverting  about  them,  which  keeps  up  the  good  humor 
of  people  to  the  last.  At  all  events,  remember  that  it  is 
you  that  oblige  me  to  enter  upon  this  eclaircissement,  and  let 
us  see  which  of  us  comes  off  best  in  defending  themselves. 

The  first  of  your  Impostures,  as  you  call  them,  is  on  the 
opinion  of  Vasquez  upon  alms-giving.  To  avoid  all  ambigu- 
ity, then,  allow  me  to  give  a  simple  explanation  of  the  matter 
in  dispute.  It  is  well  known,  fathers,  that  according  to  the 
mind  of  the  Church,  there  are  two  precepts  touching  alms — 
1st,  "To  give  out  of  our  superfluity  in  the  case  of  the  ordi- 
nary necessities  of  the  poor ;"  and  Idly,  "  To  give  even  out 
of  our  necessaries,  according  to  our  circumstances,  in 


ALMS-GIVING.  245 

of  extreme  necessity."  Thus  says  Cajetan,  after  St.  Thomas  ; 
so  that,  to  get  at  the  mind  of  Vasquez  on  this  subject,  we 
must  consider  the  rules  he  lays  down,  both  in  regard  to  ne- 
cessaries and  superfluities. 

With  regard  to  superfluity,  which  is  the  most  common 
source  of  relief  to  the  poor,  it  is  entirely  set  aside  by  that 
single  maxim  which  I  have  quoted  in  my  Letters  :  "  That 
what  the  men  of  the  world  keep  with  the  view  of  irtfproving 
their  own  condition  and  that  of  their  relatives,  is  not  properly 
superfluity  ;  so  that,  such  a  thing  as  superfluity  is  rarely  to 
be  met  with  among  men  of  the  world,  not  even  excepting 
kings."  It  is  very  easy  to  see,  fathers,  that  according  to 
this  definition,  none  can  have  superfluity,  provided  they  have 
ambition  ;  and  thus,  so  far  as  the  greater  part  of  the  world 
is  concerned,  alms-giving  is  annihilated.  But  even  though  a 
man  should  happen  to  have  superfluity,  he  would  be  under 
no  obligation,  according  to  Vasquez,  to  give  it  away  in  the 
case  of  ordinary  necessity  ;  for  he  protests  against  those  who 
would  thus  bind  the  rich.  Here  are  his  own  words:  "Cor- 
duba,"  says  he,  "  teaches,  that  when  we  have  a  superfluity 
we  are  bound  to  give  out  of  it  in  cases  of  ordinary  necessity  ; 
but  this  does  not  please  me — sed  hoc  non  placet — for  we  have 
demonstrated  the  contrary  against  Cajetan  and  Navarre." 
So,  fathers,  the  obligation  to  this  kind  of  alms  is  wholly  set 
aside,  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of  Vasquez. 

With  regard  to  necessaries,  out  of  which  we  are  bound  to 
give  in  cases  of  extreme  and  urgent  necessity,  it  must  be  ob- 
vious, from  the  conditions  by  which  he  has  limited  the  obli- 
gation, that  the  richest  man  in  all  Paris  may  not  come  within 
its  reach  once  in  a  lifetime.  I  shall  only  refer  to  two  of 
these.  The  first  is,  That  "  we  must  knoio  that  the  poor  man 
cannot  be  relieved  from  any  other  quarter — hcec  intelligo  et 
ccetera  omnia,  quando  scio  nullum  alium  opem  laturum." 
What  say  you  to  this,  fathers  ?  Is  it  likely  to  happen  fre- 
quently in  Paris,  where  there  are  so  many  charitable  people, 
that  I  must  know  that  there  is  not  another  soul  but  myself 
to  relieve  the  poor  wretch  who  begs  an  alms  from  me  ?  And 


246  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

yet,  according  to  Vasquez,  if  I  have  not  ascertained  that  fact, 
I  may  send  him  away  with  nothing.  The  second  condition 
is,  That  the  poor  man  be  reduced  to  such  straits  "  that  he  is 
menaced  with  some  fatal  accident,  or  the  ruin  of  his  charac- 
ter"— none  of  them  very  common  occurrences.  But  what 
marks  still  more  the  rarity  of  the  cases  in  which  one  is  bound 
to  give  charity,  is  his  remark,  in  another  passage,  'that  the 
poor  man  must  be  so  ill  off,  "  that  he  may  conscientiously  rob 
the  rich  man  !"  This  must  surely  be  a  very  extraordinary 
case,  unless  he  will  insist  that  a  man  may  be  ordinarily  al- 
lowed to  commit  robbery.  And  so,  after  having  cancelled 
the  obligation  to  give  alms  out  of  our  superfluities,  he  obliges 
the  rich  to  relieve  the  poor  only  in  those  cases  when  he 
would  allow  the  poor  to  rifle  the  rich  !  Such  is  the  doc- 
trine of  Vasquez,  to  whom  you  refer  your  readers  for  their 
edification ! 

I  now  come  to  your  pretended  Impostures.  You  begin 
by  enlarging  on  the  obligation  to  alms-giving  which  Vasquez 
imposes  on  ecclesiastics.  But  on  this  point  I  have  said  noth- 
ing ;  and  I  am  prepared  to  take  it  up  whenever  you  choose. 
This,  then,  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  present  question.  As 
for  laymen,  who  are  the  only  persons  with  whom  we  have 
now  to  do,  you  are  apparently  anxious  to  have  it  understood 
that,  in  the  passage  which  I  quoted,  Vasquez  is  giving  not 
his  own  judgment,  but  that  of  Cajetan.  But  as  nothing 
could  be  more  false  than  this,  and  as  you  have  not  said  it  in 
so  many  terms,  I  am  willing  to  believe,  for  the  sake  of  youi 
character,  that  you  did  not  intend  to  say  it. 

You  next  loudly  complain  that,  after  quoting  that  maxim 
of  Vasquez,  "Such  a  thing  as  superfluity  is  rarely  if  ever 
to  be  met  with  among  men  of  the  world,  not  excepting 
kings,"  /  have  inferred  from  it,  "  that  the  rich  are  rarely,  if 
ever,  bound  to  give  alms  out  of  their  superfluity."  But 
•what  do  you  mean  to  say,  fathers?  If  it  be  true  that  the 
rich  have  almost  never  superfluity,  is  it  not  obvious  that  they 
will  almost  never  be  bound  to  give  alms  out  of  their  super- 
fluity ?  I  might  have  put  it  into  the  form  of  a  syllog'sm  for 


ALMS-GIVING.  247 

you,  if  Diana,  who  has  such  an  esteem  for  Vas  juez  that  he 
calls  him  "  the  phoenix  of  genius,"  had  not  drawn  the  same 
conclusion  from  the  same  premises;  for,  after  quoting  the 
maxim  of  Vasquez,  he  concludes,  "  that,  with  regard  to  the 
question,  whether  the  rich  are  obliged  to  give  alms  out  of 
their  superfluity,  though  the  affirmation  were  true,  -it  would 
seldom,  or  almost  never,  happen  to  be  obligatory  in  practice." 
I  have  followed  this  language  word  for  word.  What,  then4 
are  we  to  make  of  this,  fathers  ?  When  Diana  quotes  with 
approbation  the  sentiments  of  Vasquez — when  he  finds  them 
probable,  and  "  very  convenient  for  rich  people,"  as  he  says 
in  the  same  place,  he  is  no  slanderer,  no  falsifier,  and  we 
hear  no  complaints  of  misrepresenting  his  author  ;  whereas, 
when  I  cite  the  same  sentiments  of  Vasquez,  though  without 
holding  him  up  as  a  phoenix,  I  am  a  slanderer,  a  fabricator, 
a  corrupter  of  his  maxims.  Truly,  fathers,  you  have  some 
reason  to  be  apprehensive,  lest  your  very  different  treatment 
of  those  who  agree  in  their  representation,  and  differ  only  in 
their  estimate  of  your  doctrine,  discover  the  real  secret  of 
your  hearts,  and  provoke  the  conclusion,  that  the  main  ob- 
ject you  have  in  view  is  to  maintain  the  credit  and  glory  of 
your  Company.  It  appears  that,  provided  your  accommo- 
dating theology  is  treated  as  judicious  complaisance,  you 
never  disavow  those  that  publish  it,  but  laud  them  as  con- 
tributing to  your  design ;  but  let  it  be  held  forth  as  pernicious 
laxity,  and  the  same  interest  of  your  Society  prompts  you  to 
disclaim  the  maxims  which  would  injure  you  in  public  esti- 
mation. And  thus  you  recognize  or  renounce  them,  not 
according  to  the  truth,  which  never  changes,  but  according 
to  the  shifting  exigencies  of  'he  times,  acting  on  that  motto 
of  one  of  the.  ancients,  "  Omnia  pro  tempore,  nihil  pro  veri- 
tate — Anything  for  the  times,  nothing  for  the  truth."  Be- 
ware of  this,  fathers ;  and  that  you  may  never  have  it  in 
your  power  again  to  say  that  I  drew  from  the  principle  of 
Vasquez  a  conclusion  which  he  had  disavowed,  I  beg  to  in- 
.form  you  that  he  has  drawn  it  himself:  "According  to  the 
opinion  of  Cajetan,  and  according  to  MT  OWN — et  secundum 


248  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

nostram — (lie  says,  chap,  i.,  no.  27),  one  is  nardly  obliged  to 
give  alms  at  all,  when  one  is  only  obliged  to  give  them  out 
of  one's  superfluity."  Confess  then,  fathers,  on  the  testi- 
mony of  Vasquez  himself,  that  I  have  exactly  copied  his 
sentiment ;  and  think  how  you  could  have  the  conscience  to 
say,  that  "  the  reader,  on  consulting  the  original,  would  see 
to  his  astonishment,  that  he  there  teaches  the  very  reverse !" 

In  fine,  you  insist,  above  all,  that  if  Vasquez  does  not  bind 
the  rich  to  give  alms  out  of  their  superfluity,  he  obliges  them 
to  atone  for  this  by  giving  out  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 
But  you  have  forgotten  to  mention  the  list  of  conditions 
which  he  declares  to  be  essential  to  constitute  that  obligation, 
which  I  have  quoted,  and  which  restrict  it  in  such  a  way  as 
almost  entirely  to  annihilate  it.  In  place  of  giving  this  hon- 
est statement  of  his  doctrine,  you  tell  us,  in  general  terms, 
that  he  obliges  the  rich  to  give  even  what  is  necessary  to 
their  condition.  This  is  proving  too  much,  fathers  ;  the  rule 
of  the  Gospel  does  not  go  so  far ;  and  it  would  be  an  error, 
into  which  Vasquez  is  very  far,  indeed,  from  having  fallen. 
To  cover  his  laxity,  you  attribute  to  him  an  excess  of  severity 
which  would  be  reprehensible ;  and  thus  you  lose  all  credit 
as  faithful  reporters  of  his  sentiments.  But  the  truth,  is, 
Vasquez  is  quite  free  from  any  such  suspicion ;  for  he  has 
maintained,  as  I  have  shown,  that  the  rich  are  not  bound, 
either  in  justice  or  in  charity,  to  give  of  their  superfluities, . 
and  still  less  of  their  necessaries,  to  relieve  the  ordinary  wants 
of  the  poor ;  and  that  they  are  not  obliged  to  give  of  the  neces- 
saries, except  in  cases  so  rare  that  they  almost  never  happen. 

Having  disposed  of  your  objections  against  me  on  this 
head,  it  only  remains  to  show  the  falsehood  of  your  assertion, 
that  Vasquez  is  more  severe  than  Cajetan.  This  will  be  very 
easily  done.  That  cardinal  teaches  "  that  we  are  bound  in 
justice  to  give  alms  out  of  our  superfluity,  even  in  the  or- 
dinary wants  of  the  poor ;  because,  according  to  the  holy 
fathers,  the  rich  are  merely  the  dispensers  of  their  superflu- 
ity, which  they  are  to  give  to  whom  they  please,  among 
those  who  have  need  of  it."  And  accordingly,  unlike  Diana, 


ALMS-GIVING.  249 

who  says  of  the  maxims  of  Vasquez,  that  they  will  be  "  very 
convenient  and  agreeable  to  the  rich  and  their  confessors," 
the  cardinal,  who  has  no  such  consolation  to  afford  them,  de- 
clares that'  he  has  nothing  to  say  to  the  rich  but  these  words 
of  Jesus  Christ :  "It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the 
eye  of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  heaven ;" 
and  to  their  confessors  :  "  If  the  blind  lead  the  blind,  both 
shall  fall  into  the  ditch."*  So  indispensable  did  he  deem 
this  obligation !  This,  too,  is  what  the  fathers  and  all  the 
saints  have  laid  down  as  a  certain  truth.  "There  are  two 
cases,"  says  St.  Thomas,  "  in  which  we  are  bound  to  give 
alms  as  a  matter  of  justice — ex  debito  legali :  one,  when  the 
poor  are  in  danger ;  the  other,  when  we  possess  superfluous 
property."  And  again  :  "  The  three  tenths  which  the  Jews 
were  bound  to  eat  with  the  poor,  have  been  augmented  under 
the  new  law  ;  for  Jesus  Christ  wills  that  we  give  to  the  poor, 
not  the  tenth  only,  but  the  whole  of  our  superfluity."  And 
yet  it  does  not  seem  good  to  Yasquez  that  we  should  be 
obliged  to  give  even  a  fragment  of  our  superfluity  ;  such  is 
his  complaisance  to  the  rich,  such  his  hardness  to  the  poor, 
such  his  contrariety  to  those  feelings  of  charity  which  teach 
us  to  relish  the  truth  contained  in  the  following  words  of 
St.  Gregory,  harsh  as  it  may  sound  to  the  rich  of  this  world 
"  When  we  give  the  poor  what  is  necessary  to  them,  we  are 
not  so  much  bestowing  on  them  what  is  our  property,  as 
rendering  to  them  what  is  their  own ;  and  it  may  be  said  to 
be  an  act  of  justice,  rather  than  a  work  of  mercy." 

It  is  thus  that  the  saints  recommend  the  rich  to  share  with 
the  poor  the  good  things  of  this  earth,  if  they  would  expect 
to  possess  with  them  the  good  things  of  heaven.  While 
you  make  it  your  business  to  foster  in  the  breasts  of  men 
that  ambition  which  leaves  no  superfluity  to  dispose  of,  and 
that  avarice  which  refuses  to  part  with  it,  the  saints  have  la- 
bored to  induce  the  rich  to  give  up  their  superfluity,  and  to 
convince  them  that  they  would  have  abundance  of  it,  pro- 
vided they  measured  it,  not  by  the  standard  of  covetous- 

,  *  De  Eleemosyna.  c.  6. 

11* 


250  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

ness,  which  knows  no  bounds  to  its  cravings,  but  by  that  of 
piety,  which  is  ingenious  in  retrenchments,  so  as  to  have 
wherewith  to  diffuse  itself  in  the  exercise  of  charity.  "We 
will  have  a  great  deal  of  superfluity,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "if 
we  keep  only  what  is  necessary  :  but  if  we  seek  after  vanities, 
we  will  never  have  enough.  Seek,  brethren,  what  is  suffi- 
cient for  the  work  of  God" — that  is,  for  nature — "  and  not 
for  what  is  sufficient  for  your  covetousness,"  which  is  the 
work  of  the  devil :  "  and  remember  that  the  superfluities  of 
the  rich  are  the  necessaries  of  the  poor." 

I  would  fondly  trust,  fathers,  that  what  I  have  now  said 
to  you  may  serve,  not  only  for  my  vindication — that  were  a 
small  matter — but  also  to  make  you  feel  and  detest  what  is 
corrupt  in  the  maxims  of  your  casuists,  and  thus  unite  us 
sincerely  under  the  sacred  rules  of  the  Gospel,  according  to 
which  we  must  all  be  judged. 

As  to  the  second  point,  which  regards  simony,  before  pro- 
ceeding to  answer  the  charges  you  have  advanced  against 
me,  I  shall  begin  by  illustrating  your  doctrine  on  this  sub- 
ject. Finding  yourselves  placed  in  an  awkward  dilemma, 
between  the  canons  of  the  Church,  which  impose  dreadful 
penalties  upon  simoniacs,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  avarice 
of  many  who  pursue  this  infamous  traffic  on  the  other,  you 
have  recourse  to  your  ordinary  method,  which  is  to  yield  to 
men  what  they  desire,  and  give  the  Almighty  only  words 
and  shows.  For  what  else  does  the  simoniac  want,  but 
money,  in  return  for  his  benefice  ?  And  yet  this  is  what  you 
exempt  from  the  charge  of  simony.  And  as  the  name  of 
simony  must  still  remain  standing,  and  a  subject  to  which  it 
may  be  ascribed,  you  have  substituted,  in  the  place  of  this, 
an  imaginary  idea,  which  never  yet  crossed  the  brain  of  a 
simoniac,  and  would  not  serve  him  much  though  it  did — the 
idea,  namely,  that  simony  lies  in  estimating  the  money  con- 
sidered in  itself  as  highly  as  the  spiritual  gift  or  office  con- 
sidered in  itself.  Who  would  ever  take  it  into  his  head  to 
compare  things  so  utterly  disproportionate  and  heterogeneous  ? 
And  yet,  provided  this  metaphysical  comparison  be  not 


SIMONY.  251 

drawn,  any  one  may,  according  to  your  authors,  give  away 
a  benefice,  and  receive  money  in  return  for  it,  without  being 
guilty  of  simony. 

Such  is  the  way  in  which  you  sport  with  religion,  in  order 
to  gratify  the  worst  passions  of  men ;  and  yet  only  see  with 
what  gravity  your  Father  Valentia  delivers  his  rhapsodies  in 
the  passage  cited  in  my  letters.  He  says  :  "  One  may  give 
a  spiritual  for  a  temporal  good  in  two  ways — first,  in  the  way 
of  prizing  the  temporal  more  than  the  spiritual,  and  that 
would  be  simony ;  secondly,  in  the  way  of  taking  the  tem- 
poral as  the  motive  and  end  inducing  one  to  give  away  the 
spiritual,  but  without  prizing  the  temporal  more  than  the 
spiritual,  and  then  it  is  not  simony.  And  the  reason  is,  that 
simony  consists  in  receiving  something  temporal,  as  the  just 
price  of  what  is  spiritual.  If,  therefore,  the  temporal  is 
sought — si  petatur  temporale — not  as  the  price,  but  only  as 
the  motive  determining  us  to  part  with  the  spiritual,  it  is  by 
no  means  simony,  even  although  the  possession  of  the  tem- 
poral may  be  principally  intended  and  expected — minime  erit 
simonia,  etiamsi  temporale  principaliter  intendatur  et  expecte- 
tur."  Your  redoubtable  Sanchez  has  been  favored  with  a 
similar  revelation ;  Escobar  quotes  him  thus :  "  If  one  give  a 
spiritual  for  a  temporal  good,  not  as  the  price,  but  as  a  mo- 
tive to  induce  the  collator  to  give  it,  or  as  an  acknowledgment 
if  the  benefice  has  been  actually  received,  is  that  simony  ? 
Sanchez  assures  us  that  it  is  not."  In  your  Caen  Theses  of 
1644,  you  say:  "It  is  a  probable  opinion,  taught  by  many 
Catholics,  that  it  is  not  simony  to  exchange  a  temporal  for  a 
spiritual  good,  when  the  former  is  not  given  as  a  price."  And 
as  to  Tanner,  here  is  his  doctrine,  exactly  the  same  with  that 
•>f  Valentia ;  and  I  quote  it  again  to  show  you  how  far  wrong 
it  is  in  you  to  complain  of  me  for  saying  that  it  does  not 
agree  with  that  of  St.  Thomas,  for  he  avows  it  himself  in  the 
very  passage  which  I  quoted  in  my  letter :  "  There,  is  prop- 
erly and  truly  no  simony,"  says  he,  "  unless  when  a  temporal 
good  is  taken  as  the  price  of  a  spiritual ;  but  when  taken 
merely  as  the  motive  for  giving  the  spiritual,  or  as  an  ac- 


252  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

knowledgment  for  having  received  it,  this  is  not  simony,  at 
least  in  point  of  conscience."  And  again:  "  The  same  thing 
may  be  said  although  the  temporal  should  b  :  regarded  as  the 
principal  end,  and  even  preferred  to  the  spiritual ;  although 
St.  Thomas  and  others  appear  to  hald  the  reverse,  inasmuch 
as  they  maintain  it  to  be  downright -simony  to  exchange  a 
spiritual  for  a  temporal  good,  when  the  temporal  is  the  end 
of  the  transaction." 

Such,  then,  being  your  doctrine  on  simony,  as  taught  by 
your  best  authors,  who  follow  each  other  very  closely  in  this 
point,  it  only  remains  now  to  reply  to  your  charges  of  mis- 
representation. You  have  taken  no  notice  of  Valentia's  opin- 
ion, so  that  his  doctrine  stands  as  it  was  before.  But  you  fix 
on  that  of  Tanner,  maintaining  that  he  has  merely  decided  it 
to  be  no  simony  by  divine  right ;  and  you  would  have  it  to 
be  believed  that,  in  quoting  the  passage,  I  have  suppressed 
these  words,  divine  right.  This,  fathers,  is  a  most  uncon- 
scionable trick ;  for  these  words,  divine  right,  never  existed 
in  that  passage.  You  add  that  Tanner  declares  it  to  be 
simony  according  to  positive  right.  But  you  are  mistaken ; 
he  does  not  say  that  generally,  but  only  of  particular  cases, 
or,  as  he  expresses  it,  in  casibys  a  jure  express-is,  by  which  he 
makes  an  exception  to  the  general  rule  he  had  laid  down  in 
that  passage,  "  that  it  is  not  simony  in  point  of  conscience," 
which  must  imply  that  it  is  not  so  in  point  of  positive  right, 
unless  you  would  have  Tanner  made  so  impious  as  to  main- 
tain that  simony,  in  point  of  positive  right,  is  not  simony  hi 
point  of  conscience.  But  it  is  easy  to  see  your  drift  in  mus- 
tering up  such  terms  as  "  divine  right,  positive  right,  natural 
right,  internal  and  external  tribunal,  expressed  cases,  outward 
presumption,"  and  others  equally  little  known ;  you  mean  to 
escape  under  this  obscurity  of  language,  and  make  us  lose 
sight  of  your  aberrations.  But,  fathers,  you  shall  not  escape 
by  these  vain  artifices  ;  for  I  shall  put  some  questions  to  you 
so  simple,  that  they  will  not  admit  of  coming  under  your  dis~ 


*  See  before,  page  73. 


SIMONY.  253 

I  ask  you,  then,  without  speaking  of  "positive  rights,"  of 
"outward  presumptions,"  or  "external  tribunals"— I  ask  if, 
according  to  your  authors,  a  beneficiary  would  be  simoniacal, 
were  he  to  give  a  benefice  worth  four  thousand  livres  of  yearly 
rent,  and  to  receive  ten  thousand  francs  ready  money,  not  as 
the  price  of  the  benefice,  but  merely  as  a  motive  inducing 
him  to  give  it  ?  Answer  me  plainly,  fathers  :  What  must  we 
make  of  such  a  case  as  this  according  to  your  authors  ?  Will 
not  Tanner  tell  us  decidedly  that  "  this  is  not  simony  in  point 
of  conscience,  seeing  that  the  temporal  good  is  not  the  price 
of  the  benefice,  but  only  the  motive  inducing  to  dispose  of 
it  ?"  Will  not  Valentia,  will  not  your  own  Theses  of  Caen, 
will  not  Sanchez  and  Escobar  agree  in  the  same  decision,  and 
give  the  same  reason  for  it  ?  Is  anything  more  necessary  to 
exculpate  that  beneficiary  from  simony?  And,  whatever 
might  be  your  private  opinion  of  the  case,  durst  you  deal 
with  that  man  as  a  simonist  in  your  confessionals,  when  he 
would  be  entitled  to  stop  your  mouth  by  telling  you  that  he 
acted  according  to  the  advice  of  so  many  grave  doctors  ? 
Confess  candidly,  then,  that,  according  to  your  views,  that 
man  would  be  no  simonist ;  and,  having  done  so,  defend  the 
doctrine  as  you  best  can. 

Such,  fathers,  is  the  true  mode  of  treating  questions,  in 
order  to  unravel,  instead  of  perplexing  them,  either  by  scho- 
lastic terms,  or,  as  you  have  done  in  your  last  charge  against 
me  here,  by  altering  the  state  of  the  question.  Tanner,  you 
say,  has,  at  any  rate,  declared  that  such  an  exchange  is  a 
great  sin ;  and  you  blame  me  for  having  maliciously  sup- 
pressed this  circumstance,  which,  you  maintain,  "  completely 
justifies  him."  But  you  are  wrong  again,  and  that  in  more 
ways  than  one.  For,  first,  though  what  you  say  had  been 
true,  it  would  be  nothing  to  the  point,  the  question  in  the 
passage  to  which  I  referred  beincr,  not  if  it  was  sin,  but  if  it 
was  simony.  Now,  these  are  two  very  different  questions. 
Sin,  according  to  your  maxims,  obliges  only  to  confession — 
simony  obliges  to  restitution  ;  and  there  are  people  to  whom 
these  may  appear  two  very  different  things  You  have  found 


254  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

expedients  for  making  confession  a  very  easy  affair ;  "but  you 
have  not  fallen  upon  ways  and  means  to  make  restitution  an 
agreeable  one.  Allow  me  to  add,  that  the  case  which  Tan- 
ner charges  with,  sin,  is  not  simply  that  in  which  a  spiritual 
good  is  exchanged  for  a  temporal,  the  latter  being  the  prin- 
cipal end  in  view,  but  that  in  which  the  party  "  prizes  the 
temporal  above  the  spiritual,"  which  is  the  imaginary  case 
already  spoken  of.  And  it  must  be  allowed  he  could  not  go 
far  wrong  in  charging  such  a  case  as  that  with  sin,  since  that 
man  must  be  either  very  wicked  or  very  stupid  who,  when 
permitted  to  exchange  the  one  thing  for  the  other,  would  not 
avoid  the  sin  of  the  transaction  by  such  a  simple  process  as 
that  of  abstaining  from  comparing  the  two  things  together. 
Besides,  Valentia,  in  the  place  quoted,  when  treating  the 
question,  if  it  be  sinful  to  give  a  spiritual  good  for  a  tem- 
poral, the  latter  being  the  main  consideration,  and  after  pro- 
ducing the  reasons  given  for  the  affirmative,  adds,  "  Sed  hoc 
non  videtur  mihi  satis  certum — But  this  does  not  appear  to 
my  mind  sufficiently  certain." 

Since  that  time,  however,  your  father,  Erade  Bille,  pro- 
fessor of  cases  of  conscience  at  Caen,  has  decided  that  there 
is  no  sin  at  all  in  the  case  supposed  ;  for  probable  opinions, 
you  know,  are  always  in  the  way  of  advancing  to  maturity.* 
This  opinion  he  maintains  in  his  writings  of  1644,  against 
which  M.  Dupre,  doctor  and  professor  at  Caen,  delivered  that 
excellent  oration,  since  printed  and  well  known.  For  though 
this  Erade  Bille  confesses  that  Valentia's  doctrine,  adopted 
by  Father  Milhard,  and  condemned  by  the  Sorbonne,  "  is 
contrary  to  the  common  opinion,  suspected  of  simony,  and 
punishable  at  law  when  discovered  in  practice,"  he  does  not 
scruple  to  say  that  it  is  a  probable  opinion,  and  consequently 
sure  in  point  of  conscience,  and  that  there  is  neither  simony 
nor  sin  in  it.  "It  is  a  probable  opinion,"  he  says,  "  taught 
by  many  Catholic  doctors,  that  there  is  neither  any  simony 
nor  any  sin  in  giving  money,  or  any  other  temporal  thing,  for 
a  benefice,  eithe»  in  the  way  of  acknowledgment,  or  as  a  mo- 
*  See  before,  page  140. 


SIMONY.  255 

tive,  without  which  it  would  not  be  given,  provided  it  is  not 
given  as  a  price  equal  to  the  benefice."  This  is  all  that  could 
possibly  be  desired.  In  fact,  according  to  these  maxims  of 
yours,  simony  would  be  so  exceedingly  rare;  that  we  might 
exempt  from  this  sin  even  Simon  Magus  himself,  who  desired 
to  purchase  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  is  the  emblem  of  those  simo- 
nists  that  buy  spiritual  things  ;  and  Gehazi,  who  took  money 
for  a  miracle,  and  may  be  regarded  as  the  prototype  of  the 
simonists  that  sell  them.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  when 
Simon,  as  we  read  in  the  Acts,  "  offered  the  apostles  money, 
saying,  Give  me  also  this  power ;"  he  said  nothing  about  buy- 
ing or  selling,  or  fixing  the  price  ;  he  did  no  more  than  offer 
the  money  as  a  motive  to  induce  them  to  give  him  that  spir- 
itual gift ;  which  being,  according  to  you,  no  simony  at  all, 
he  might,  had  he  but  been  instructed  in  your  maxims,  have 
escaped  the  anathema  of  St.  Peter.  The  same  unhappy  ig- 
norance was  a  great  loss  to  Gehazi,  when  he  was  struck  with 
leprosy  by  Elisha  ;  for,  as  he  accepted  the  money  from  the 
prince  who  had  been  miraculously  cured,  simply  as  an  ac- 
knowledgment, and  not  as  a  price  equivalent  to  the  divine 
virtue  which  had  effected  the  miracle,  he  might  have  insisted 
on  the  prophet  healing  him  again  on  pain  of  mortal  sin ;  see- 
ing, on  this  supposition,  he  would  have  acted  according  to  the 
advice  of  your  grave  doctors,  who,  in  such  cases,  oblige  con- 
fessors to  absolve  their  penitents,  and  to  wash  them  from  that 
spiritual  leprosy  of  which  the  bodily  disease  is  the  type. 

Seriously,  fathers,  it  would  be  extremely  easy  to  hold  you 
up  to  ridicule  in  this  matter,  and  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  why 
you  expose  yourselves  to  such  treatment.  To  produce  this 
effect,  I  have  nothing  more  to  do  than  simply  to  quote  Esco- 
bar, in  his  "  Practice  of  Simony  according  to  the  Society  of 
Jesus ;"  "  Is  it  simony  when  two  Churchmen  become  mutu- 
ally pledged  thus :  Give  me  your  vote  for  my  election  as 
provincial,  and  I  shall  give  you  mine  for  your  election  as 
prior  ?  By  no  means."  Or  take  another  :  "  It  is  not  simony 
to  get  possession  of  a  benefice  by  promising  a  sum  of  money, 
when  one  has  no  intention  of  actually  paying  the  money; 


256  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

for  this  is  merely  making  a  show  of  simony,  and  is  as  far 
from  being  real  simony  as  counterfeit  gold  is  from  the  gen- 
uine." By  this  quirk  of  conscience,  he  has  contrived  means, 
in  the  way  of  adding  swindling  to  simony,  for  obtaining  ben- 
efices without  simony  and  without  money. 

But  I  have  no  time  to  dwell  longer  on  the  subject,  for  I 
must  say  a  word  or  two  in  reply  to  your  third  accusation, 
which  refers  to  the  subject  of  bankrupts.  Nothing  can  be 
more  gross  than  the  manner  in  which  you  have  managed  this 
charge.  You  rail  at  me  as  a  libeller  in  reference  to  a  senti- 
ment of  Lessius,  which  I  did  not  quote  myself,  but  took  from 
a  passage  in  Escobar ;  and  therefore,  though  it  were  true 
that  Lessius  does  not  hold  the  opinion  ascribed  to  him  by 
Escobar,  what  can  be  more  unfair  than  to  charge  me  with 
the  misrepresentation  ?  When  I  quote  Lessius  or  others  of 
your  authors  myself,  I  am  quite  prepared  to  answer  for  it ; 
but  as  Escobar  has  collected  the  opinions  of  twenty-four  of 
your  writers,  I  beg  to  ask,  if  I  am  bound  to  guarantee  any- 
thing beyond  the  correctness  of  my  citations  from  his  book  ? 
or  if  I  must,  in  addition,  answer  for  the  fidelity  of  all  his 
quotations  of  which  I  may  avail  myself  ?  This  would  be 
hardly  reasonable ;  and  yet  this  is  precisely  the  case  in  the 
question  before  us.  I  produced  in  my  letter  the  following 
passage  from  Escobar,  and  you  do  not  object  to  the  fidelity  of 
my  translation  :  "  May  the  bankrupt,  with  a  good  conscience, 
retain  as  much  of  his  property  as  is  necessary  to  afford  him 
an  honorable  maintenance — ne  indecore  vivat  ?  I  answer,  with 
Lessius,  that  he  may — cum  Lessio  assero  posse."  You  tell 
me  that  Lessius  does  not  hold  that  opinion.  But  just  con- 
sider for  a  moment  the  predicament  in  which  you  involve 
yourselves.  If  it  turns  out  that  he  does  hold  that  opinion, 
you  will  be  set.  down  as  impostors  for  having  asserted  the 
contrary ;  and  if  it  is  proved  that  he  does  not  hold  it,  Esco- 
bar will  be  the  impostor ;  so  it  must  now  of  necessity  follow, 
that  one  or  other  of  the  Society  will  be  convicted  of  impos- 
ture. Only  think  what  a  scandal!  You  cannot,  it  would 
appear,  foresee  the  consequences  of  things.  You  seem  to 


BANKRUPTCY.  25*7 

imagine  that  you  have  nothing  more  to  do  than  to  cast  as- 
persions upon  people,  without  considering  on  whom  they 
may  recoil.  Why  did  you  not  acquaint  Escohar  with  your 
objection  before  venturing  to  publish  it  ?  He  might  have 
given  you  satisfaction.  It  is  not  so  very  troublesome  to  get 
word  from  Valladolid,  where  he  is  living  in  perfect  health, 
and  completing  his  grand  work  on  Moral  Theology,  in  six 
volumes,  on  the  first  of  which  I  mean  to  say  a  few  words  by- 
and-by.  They  have  sent  him  the  first  ten  letters ;  you  might 
as  easily  have  sent  him  your  objection,  and  I  am  sure  he 
would  have  soon  returned  you  an  answer,  for  he  has  doubt- 
less seen  in  Lessius  the  passage  from  which  he  took  the  ne 
indecore  vivat.  Read  him  yourselves,  fathers,  and  you  will 
find  it  word  for  word,  as  I  have  done.  Here  it  is :  "  The 
same  thing  is  apparent  from  the  authorities  cited,  particularly 
in  regard  to  that  property  which  he  acquires  after  his  failure, 
out  of  which  even  the  delinquent  debtor  may  retain  as  much 
as  is  necessary  for  his  honorable  maintenance,  according  to  his 
station  of  life — ut  non  indecore  vivat.  Do  you  ask  if  this 
rule  applies  to  goods  which  he  possessed  at  the  time  of  his 
failure  ?  Such  seems  to  be  the  judgment  of  the  doctors." 

I  shall  not  stop  here  to  show  how  Lessius,  to  sanction  his 
maxim,  perverts  the  law  that  allows  bankrupts  nothing  more 
than  a  mere  livelihood,  and  that  makes  no  provision  for  "  hon- 
orable maintenance."  It  is  enough  to  have  vindicated  Esco- 
bar from  such  an  accusation — it  is  more,  indeed,  than  what 
I  was  in  duty  bound  to  do.  But  you,  fathers,  have  not  done 
your  duty.  It  still  remains  for  you  to  answer  the  passage 
of  Escobar,  whose  decisions,  by  the  way,  have  this  advan- 
tage, that  being  entirely  independent  of  the  context,  and  con- 
densed in  little  articles,  they  are  not  liable  to  your  distinc- 
tions. I  quoted  the  whole  of  the  passage,  in  which  "  bank- 
rupts are  permitted  to  keep  their  goods,  though  unjustly 
acquired,  to  provide  an  honorable  maintenance  for  their  fam- 
ilies"— commenting  on  which  in  my  letters,  I  exclaim  :  "  In- 
deed, father !  by  what  strange  kind  of  charity  would  you 
have  the  ill-gotten  property  of  a  bankrupt  appropriated  to 


258  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

his  own  use,  instead  of  that  of  his  lawful  creditors  ?"*  This 
is  the  question  which  must  be  answered  ;  but  it  is  one  that 
involves  you  in  a  sad  dilemma,  and  from  which  you  in  vain 
seek  to  escape  by  altering  the  state  of  the  question,  and 
quoting  other  passages  from  Lessius,  which  have  no  connec- 
tion with  the  subject.  I  ask  you,  then,  May  this  maxim  of 
Escobar  be  followed  by  bankrupts  with  a  safe  conscience,  or 
no?  And  take  care  what  you  say.  If  you  answer,  No, 
what  becomes  of  your  doctor,  and  your  doctrine  of  proba- 
bility ?  If  you  say,  Yes — I  delate  you  to  the  Parliament.f 

In  this  predicament  I  must  now  leave  you,  fathers ;  for 
my  limits  will  not  permit  me  to  overtake  your  next  accusa- 
tion, which  respects  homicide.  This  will  serve  for  my  next 
letter,  and  the  rest  will  follow. 

In  the  mean  while,  I  shall  make  no  remarks  on  the  adver- 
tisements which  you  have  tagged  to  the  end  of  each  of  your 
charges,  filled  as  they  are  with  scandalous  falsehoods.  I 
mean  to  answer  all  these  in  a  separate  letter,  in  which  I  hope 
to  show  the  weight  due  to  your  calumnies.  I  am  sorry 
fathers,  that  you  should  have  recourse  to  such  desperate  re- 
sources. The  abusive  terms  which  you  heap  on  me  will  not 
clear  up  our  disputes,  nor  will  your  manifold  threats  hinder 
me  from  defending  myself.  You  think  you  have  power  and 
impunity  on  your  side  ;  and  I  think  that  I  have  truth  and  in- 
nocence on  mine.  It  is  a  strange  and  tedious  war,  when  vio- 
lence attempts  to  vanquish  truth.  All  the  efforts  of  violence 
cannot  weaken  truth,  and  only  serve  to  give  it  fresh  vigor. 
All  the  lights  of  truth  cannot  arrest  violence,  and  only  serve 
to  exasperate  it.  When  force  meets  force,  the  weaker  must 
succumb  to  the  stronger ;  when  argument  is  opposed  to  ar- 
gument, the  solid  and  the  convincing  triumphs  over  the 
empty  and  the  false  ;  but  violence  and  verity  can  make  no  im- 
pression on  each  other.  Let  none  suppose,  however,  that 
the  two  are,  therefore,  equal  to  each  other ;  for  there  is  this 

*  See  before,  p.  177. 

f  "  The  Parliament  of  Paris  was  originally  the  court  of  the  kings  of 
France,  to  which  the  v  committed  the  supreme  administration  of  jus- 
tice." (Robertson's  Charles  V.,  vol.  i.  171.)  . 


VIOLENCE    AND   VERITY.  2O9 

X 

vast  difference  between  them,  that  violence  has  only  a  certain 
course  to  run,  limited  by  the  appointment  of  Heaven,  which 
overrules  its  effects  to  the  glory  of  the  truth  which  it  assails ; 
whereas  verity  endures  forever,  and  eventually  triumphs 
over  its  enemies,  being  eternal  and  almighty  as  God  him- 
self.* 

*  In  most  of  the  French  editions,  another  letter  is  inserted  after  this, 
being  a  refutation  of  a  reply  which  appeared  at  the  time  to  Letter  xii. 
But  as  this  letter,  though  well  written,  was  not  written  by  Pascal,  and 
as  it  does  not  contain  anything  that  would  now  be  interesting  to  the 
reader,  we  omit  it.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  reply  of  the  Jesuits  con- 
sisted, as  usual,  of  the  most  barefaced  attempts  to  fix  the  charge  of  mis- 
representation on  their  opponent,  accusing  him  of  omitting  to  quote  pas- 
sages from  his  authors  which  they  never  wrote,  of  not  answering  objec- 
tions which  were  never  brought  against  him,  of  not  adverting  to  cases 
which  neither  he  nor  his  authors  dreamt  of— in  short,  like  all  Jesuitical 
answers,  it  is  anything  and  everything  but  a  refutation  of  the  charge* 
which  have  been  substantiated  against  them. 


LETTER  XIII. 

TO  THE  REVEREND  FATHERS  OP  THE  SOCIETY 
OF  JESUS. 

THE  DOCTRINE  OF  LESSIUS  ON  HOMICIDE  THE  SAME  WITH  THAT 
OF  VALENTIA — HOW  EASY  IT  IS  TO  PASS  FROM  SPECULATION  TO 
PRACTICE WHY  THE  JESUITS  HAVE  RECOURSE  TO  THIS  DIS- 
TINCTION, AND  HOW  LITTLE  IT  SERVES  FOR  THEIR  VINDICATION. 

September  30,  1656. 

REVEREND  FATHERS, — I  have  just  seen  your  last  produc- 
tion, in  which  you  have  continued  your  list  of  Impostures  up 
to  the  twentieth,  and  intimate  that  you  mean  to  conclude  with 
this  the  first  part  of  your  accusations  against  me,  and  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  second,  in  which  you  are  to  adopt  a  new  mode  of 
defence,  by  showing  that  there  are  other  casuists  besides  those 
of  your  Society  who  are  as  lax  as  yourselves.  I  now  see  the 
precise  number  of  charges  to  which  I  have  to  reply  ;  and  as 
the  fourth,  to  which  we  have  now  come,  relates  to  homicide, 
it  may  be  proper,  in  answering  it,  to  include  the  llth,  13th, 
14th,  15th,  16th,  17th,  and  18th,  which  refer  to  the  same 
subject. 

In  the  present  letter,  therefore,  my  object  shall  be  to  vin- 
dicate the  correctness  of  my  quotations  from  the  charges  of 
falsity  which  you  bring  against  me.  But  as  you  have  ven- 
tured, in  your  pamphlets,  to  assert  that  "  the  sentiments  of 
your  authors  on  murder  are  agreeable  to  the  decisions  of 
popes  and  ecclesiastical  laws,"  you  will  compel  me,  in  my 
next  letter,  to  confute  a  statement  at  once  so  unfounded  and 
so  injurious  to  the  Church.  It  is  of  some  importance  to  show 
that  she  is  innocent  of  your  corruptions,  in  order  that  heretics 
may  be  prevented  from  taking  advantage  of  your  aberrations, 


FIDELITY    OF   PASCAL'S    QUOTATIONS.  261 

to  draw  conclusions  tending  to  her  dishonor.*  And  thus, 
viewing  on  the  one  hand  your  pernicious  maxims,  and  on  the 
other  the  canons  of  the  Church  which  have  uniformly  con- 
demned them,  people  will  see,  at  one  glance,  what  they  should 
shun  and  what  they  should  follow. 

Your  fourth  charge  turns  on  a  maxim  relating  to  murder, 
which  you  say  I  have  falsely  ascribed  to  Lessius.  It  is  as 
follows  :  "  That  if  a  man  has  received  a  buffet,  he  may  im- 
mediately pursue  his  enemy,  and  even  return  the  blow  with 
the  sword,  not  to  avenge  himself,  but  to  retrieve  his  honor." 
This,  you  say,  is  the  opinion  of  the  casuist  Victoria.  But  this 
is  nothing  to  the  point.  There  is  no  inconsistency  in  saying, 
that  it  is  at  once  the  opinion  of  Victoria  and  of  Lessius  ;  for 
Lessius  himself  says  that  it  is  also  held  by  Navarre  and  Hen- 
riquez,  who  teach  identically  the  same  doctrine.  The  only 
question,  then,  is,  if  Lessius  holds  this  view  as  well  as  his 
brother  casuists.  You  maintain  "  that  Lessius  quotes  this 
opinion  solely  for  the  purpose  of  refuting  it,  and  that  I  there- 
fore attribute  to  him  a  sentiment  which  he  produces  only  to 
overthrow — the  basest  and  most  disgraceful  act  of  which  a 
writer  can  be  guilty."  Now  I  maintain,  fathers,  that  he 
quotes  the  opinion  solely  for  the  purpose  of  supporting  it. 
Here  is  a  question  of  fact,  which  it  will  be  very  easy  to  settle. 
Let  us  see,  then,  how  you  prove  your  allegation,  and  you  will 
see  afterwards  how  I  prove  mine. 

To  show  that  Lessius  is  not  of  that  opinion,  you  tell  us 
that  he  condemns  the  practice  of  it ;  and  in  proof  of  this, 
you  quote  one  passage  of  his  (1.  2,  c.  9,  n.  92),  in  which  he 
says,  in  so  many  words,  "  I  condemn  the  practice  of  it."  I 
grant  that,  on  looking  for  these  words,  at  number  92,  to 
which  you  refer,  they  will  be  found  there.  But  what  will 
people  say,  fathers,  when  they  discover,  at  the  same  time, 
that  he  is  treating  in  that  place  of  a  question  totally  different 

*  The  Church  of  Rome  has  not  left  those  whom  she  terms  heretics  so 
doubtfully  to  •'  take  advantage"  of  Jesuitical  aberrations.  She  has  done 
everything  in  her  power  to  give  them  this  advantage.  By  identifying 
herself,  at  various  times,  with  the  Jesuits,  she  h*vs  virtually  stamped 
their  doctrines  with  her  approbation. 


262  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

from  that  of  which  we  are  speaking,  and  that  the  opinion  jf 
which  he  there  says  that  he  condemns  the  practice,  has  no 
connection  with  that  now  in  dispute,  but  is  quite  distinct  ? 
And  yet  to  be  convinced  that  this  is  the  fact,  we  have  only 
to  open  the  book  to  which  you  refer,  and  there  we  find  the 
whole  subject  in  its  connection  as  follows :  At  number  79  he 
treats  the  question,  "  If  it  is  lawful  ,Ja  kifl  for  a  buffet  ?"  and 
at  number  80  he  finishes  this  matteHvithout  a  single  word 
of  condemnation.  Having  disposed  of  this  question,  he  opens 
a  new  one  at  art.  81,  namely,  "  If  it  is  lawful  to  kill  for 
slanders  ?"  and  it  is  when  speaking  of  this  question  that  he 
employs  the  words  you  have  quoted  -"  I  condemn  the  prac- 
tice of  it." 

Is  it  not  shameful,  fathers,  that  you  should  venture  to  pro- 
duce these  words  to  make  it  be  believed  that  Lessius  condemns 
the  opinion  that  it  is  lawful  to  kill  for  a  buffet  ?  and  that,  on 
the  ground  of  this  single  proof,  you  should  chuckle  over  it, 
as  you  have  done,  by  saying :  "  Many  persons  of  honor  in 
Paris  have  already  discovered  this  notorious  falsehood  by 
consulting  Lessius,  and  have  thus  ascertained  the  degree  of 
credit  due  to  that  slanderer  ?"  Indeed  !  and  is  it  thus  that 
you  abuse  the  confidence  which  those  persons  of  honor  re- 
pose in  you  ?  To  show  them  that  Lessius  does  not  hold  a 
certain  opinion,  you  open  the  book  to  them  at  a  place  where 
he  is  condemning  another  opinion ;  and  these  persons  not 
having  begun  to  mistrust  your  good  faith,  and  never  thinking 
of  examining  whether  the  author  speaks  in  that  place  of  the 
subject  in  dispute,  you  impose  on  their  credulity.  I  make  no 
doubt,  fathers,  that  to  shelter  yourselves  from  the  guilt  of 
such  a  scandalous  lie,  you  had  recourse  to  your  doctrine  of 
equivocations  ;  and  that,  having  read  the  passage  in  a  loud 
voice,  you  would  say,  in  a  lower  key,  that  the  author  was 
speaking  there  of  something  else.  But  I  am  not  so  sure 
whether  this  saving  clause,  which  is  quite  enough  to  satisfy 
your  consciences,  will  be  a  very  satisfactory  answer  to  the 
just  complaint  of  those  "  honorable  persons,"  when  they 
shall  discover  that  you  have  hoodwinked  them  in  this  style. 


FIDELITY   OF   PASCALS  DESCRIPTIONS.  263 

Take  care,  then,  fathers,  to  prevent  them  by  all  means 
from  seeing  my  letters ;  for  this  is  the  only  method  now 
left  you  to  preserve  your  credit  for  a  short  time  longer.  This 
is  not  the  way  in  which  I  deal  with  your  writings :  I  send 
them  to  all  my  friends :  I  wish  everybody  to  see  them.  And 
I  verily  believe  that  both  of  us  are  in  the  right  for  our  OWH 
ixterests ;  for  after  having  published  with  such  parade  this 
fourth  Imposture,  were  it  once  discovered  that  you  have 
made  it  up  by  foisting  in  one  passage  for  another,  you  would 
be  instantly  denounced.  It  will  be  easily  seen,  that  if  you 
could  have  found  what  you  wanted  in  the  passage  where 
Lessius  treated  of  this  matter,  you  would  not  have  searched 
for  it  elsewhere,  and  that  you  had  recourse  to  such  a  trick 
only  because  you  could  find  nothing  in  that  passage  favora- 
ble to  your  purpose. 

You  would  have  us  believe  that  we  may  find  in  Lessius 
what  you  assert,  "  that  he  does  not  allow  that  this  opinion 
(that  a  man  may  be  lawfully  killed  for  a  buffet)  is  probable 
in  theory  ;"  whereas  Lessius  distinctly  declares,  at  number 
80  :  "This  opinion,. that  a  man  may  kill  for  a  buffet,  is  prob- 
able in  theory."  Is  not  this,  word  for  word,  the  reverse  of 
your  assertion  ?  And  can  we  sufficiently  admire  the  hardi- 
hood with  which  you  have  advanced,  in  set  phrase,  the  very 
reverse  of  a  matter  of  fact !  To  your  conclusion,  from  a 
fabricated  passage,  that  Lessius  was  not  of  that  opinion,  we 
have  only  to  place  Lessius  himself,  who,  in  the  genuine  pas- 
sage, declares  that  he  is  of  that  opinion. 

Again,  you  would  have  Lessius  to  say  "  that  he  condemns 
the  practice  of  it ;"  and,  as  I  have  just  observed,  there  is 
not  hi  the  original  a  single  word  of  condemnation  ;  all  that  he 
says  is  :  "It  appears  that  it  ought  not  to  be  EASILY  permit- 
ted in  practice — In  praxi  nan.  videtur  FACILE  permittenda." 
Is  that,  fathers,  the  language  of  a  man  who  condemns  a 
maxim  ?  Would  you  say  that  adultery  and  incest  ought  not 
to  be  easily  permitted  in  practice  ?  Must  we  not,  on  the  con- 
trary, conclude,  that  as  Lessius  says  no  more  than  that  the 
practice  ought  not  to  be  easily  permitted,  his  opinion  is,  that 


264  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

it  may  be  permitted  sometimes,  though  rarely  ?  And,  as  if 
he  had  been  anxious  to  apprize  everybody  when  it  might  be 
permitted,  and  to  relieve  those  who  have  received  affronts 
„  from  being  troubled  with  unreasonable  scruples,  from  not 
knowing  on  what  occasions  they  might  lawfully  kill  in  prac- 
tice, he  has  been  at  pains  to  inform  them  what  they  ought  to 
avoid  in  order  to  practise  the  doctrine  with  a  safe  conscience. 
Mark  his  words :  "  It  seems,"  says  he,  "  that  it  ought  not  to 
be  easily  permitted,  because  of  the  danger  that  persons  may 
act  in  this  matter  out  of  hatred  or  revenge,  or  with  excess,  or 
that  this  may  occasion  too  many  murders."  From  this  it 
appears  that  murder  is  freely  permitted  by  Lessius,  if  one 
avoids  the  inconveniences  referred  to — in  other  words,  if  one 
can  act  without  hatred  or  revenge,  and  in  circumstances  that 
may  not  open  the  door  to  a  great  many  murders.  To  illus- 
trate the  matter,  I  may  give  you  an  example  of  recent  occur- 
rence— the  case  of  the  buffet  of  Compiegne.*  You  will  grant 
that  the  person  who  received  the  blow  on  that  occasion  has 
shown  by  the  way  in  which  he  has  acted,  that  he  was  suf- 
ficiently master  of  the  passions  of  hatred  and  revenge.  It 
only  remained  for  him,  therefore,  to  see  that  he  did  not  give 
occasion  to  too  many  murders ;  and  you  need  hardly  be  told, 
fathers,  it  is  such  a  rare  spectacle  to  find  Jesuits  bestowing 
buffets  on  the  officers  of  the  royal  household,  that  he  had  no 
great  reason  to  fear  that  a  murder  committed  on  this  occa- 
sion would  be  likely  to  draw  many  others  in  its  train.  You 
cannot,  accordingly,  deny  that  the  Jesuit  who  figured  on 
that  occasion  was  killable  with  a  safe  conscience,  and  that  the 
offended  party  might  have  converted  him  into  a  practical 
illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  Lessius.  And  very  likely,  fa- 
thers, this  might  have  been  the  result  had  he  been  educated 
in  your  school,  and  learnt  from  Escobar  that  the  man  who 

*  The  reference  here  is  to  an  affray  which  made  a  considerable  noise 
at  the  time,  between  Father  Bonn,  a  Jesuit,  and  M.  GuiHe:  one  of  the 
officers  of  the  royal  kitchen,  in  the  College  of  Oompje^ne.  A  quarrel 
having  taken  place,  the  enraged  Jesuit  struck  the  royal  cook  in  the  face 
while  he  was  in  the  act  of  preparing  dinner  by  his  majesty's  order,  for 
Christina,  queen  of  Sweden,  in  honor,  perhaps,  of  her  conversion  to 
the  Romish  faith.  fNioole,  iv.  37  ) 


SPECULATIVE    MURDER.  265 

has  received  a  buffet  is  held  to  be  disgraced  until  he  has 
taken  the  life  of  him  wh"o  insulted  him.  But  there  is  ground 
to  believe,  that  the  very  different  instructions  which  he  re- 
ceived from  a  curate,  who  is  no  great  favorite  of  yours,  have 
contributed  not  a  little  in  this  case  to  save  the  life  of  a  Jes- 
uit. 

Tell  us  no  more,  then,  of  inconveniences  which  may,  in 
many  instances,  be  so  easily  got  over,  and  in  the  absence  of 
which,  according  to  Lessius,  murder  is  permissible  even  in 
practice.  This  is  frankly  avowed  by  your  authors,  as  quoted 
by  Escobar,  in  his  "  Practice  of  Homicide,  according  to  your 
Society."  "  Is  it  allowable,"  asks  this  casuist,  "  to  kill  him 
who  has  given  me  a  buffet  ?  Lessius  says  it  is  permissible  in 
speculation,  though  not  to  be  followed  in  practice — non  con- 
sulendum  in  praxi — on  account  of  the  risk  of  hatred,  or  of 
murders  prejudicial  to  the  State.  Others,  however,  have 
judged  that,  BY  AVOIDING  THESE  INCONVENIENCES,  THIS  is 
PERMISSIBLE  AND  SAFE  IN  PRACTICE — in  praxi  probaUlem  et 
tutam  judicarunt  Jlenriquez,"  &c.  See  how  your  opinions 
mount  up,  by  little  and  little,  to  the  climax  of  probabilism  ! 
The  present  one  you  have  at  last  elevated  to  this  position,  by 
permitting  murder  without  any  distinction  between  specula- 
tion and  practice,  in  the  following  terms  :  "  It  is  lawful,  when 
one  has  received  a  buffet,  to  return  the  blow  immediately 
with  the  sword,  not  to  avenge  one's  self,  but  to  preserve  one's 
honor."  Such  is  the  decision  of  your  fathers  of  Caen  in 
1644,  embodied  in  their  publications  produced  by  the  uni- 
versity before  parliament,  when  they  presented  their  third 
remonstrance  against  your  doctrine  of  homicide,  as  shown  in 
the  book  then  emitted  by  them,  at  page  339. 

Mark,  then,  fathers,  that  your  own  authors  have  themselves 
demolished  this  absurd  distinction  between  speculative  and 
practical  murder — a  distinction  which  the  university  treated 
with  ridicule,  and  the  invention  of  which  is  a  secret  of  your 
policy,  which  it  may  now  be  worth  while  to  explain.  The 
knowledge  of  it,  besides  being  necessary  to  the  right  under- 
standing of  your  15th,  16th,  17th,  and  18th  charges,  is  well 
12 


266  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

calculated,  in  general,  to  open  up,  by  little  and  little,  the 
principles  of  that  mysterious  policy. ' 

In  attempting,  as  you  have  done,  to  decide  cases  of  con- 
science in  the  most  agreeable  and  accommodating  manner, 
while  you  met  with  some  questions  in  which  religion  alone 
was  concerned — such  as  those  of  contrition,  penance,  love  to 
God,  and  others  only  affecting  the  inner  court  of  conscience 
— you  encountered  another  class  of  cases  in  which  civil  so- 
ciety was  interested  as  well  as  religion — such  as  those  relating 
to  usury,  bankruptcy,  homicide,  and  the  like.  And  it  is 
truly  distressing  to  all  that  love  the  Church,  to  observe  that, 
in  a  vast  number  of  instances,  in  which  you  had  only  Religion 
to  contend  with,  you  have  violated  her  laws  without  reserva- 
tion, without  distinction,  and  without  compunction ;  because 
you  knew  that  it  is  not  here  that  God  visibly  administers  his 
justice.  But  in  those  cases  in  which  the  State  is  interested 
as  well  as  Religion,  your  apprehension  of  man's  justice  has 
induced  you  to  divide  your  decisions  into  two  shares.  To 
the  first  of  these  you  give  the  name  of  speculation  ;  under 
which  category  crimes,  considered  in  themselves,  without  re- 
gard to  society,  but  merely  to  the  law  of  God,  you  have 
permitted,  without  the  least  scruple,  and  in  the  way  of  tram- 
pling on  the  divine  law  which  condemns  them.  The  second 
you  rank  under  the  denomination  of  practice  ;  and  here,  con- 
sidering the  injury  which  may  be  done  to  society,  and  the 
presence  of  magistrates  who  look  after  the  public  peace,  you 
take  care,  in  order  to  keep  yourselves  on  the  safe  side  of  the 
law,  not  to  approve  always  in  practice  the  murders  and  other 
crimes  which  you  have  sanctioned  in  speculation.  Thus,  for 
example,  on  the  question,  "  If  it  be  lawful  to  kill  for  slan- 
ders ?"  your  authors,  Filiutius,  Reginald,  and  others,  reply  : 
"  This  is  permitted  in  speculation — e.r  probabile  opinionc  licet ; 
but  is  not  to  be  approved  in  practice,  on  account  of  the  great, 
number  of  murders  which  might  ensue,  and  which  might 
injure  the  State,  if  all  slanderers  were  to  be  killed,  and  also 
because  one  might  be  punished  in  a  court  of  justice  for  liaving 
killed  another  for  that  matter."  Such  is  the  style  in  which 


SPECULATIVE   MURDER.  267 

your  opinions  begin  to  develop  themselves,  under  the  shelter 
of  this  distinction,  in  virtue  of  which,  without  doing  any 
sensible  injury  to  society,  you  only  ruin  religion.  In  acting 
thus,  you  consider  yourselves  quite  safe.  You  suppose  that, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  influence  you  have  in  the  Church  will 
effectually  shield  from  punishment  your  assaults  on  truth ; 
and  that,  on  the  other,  the  precautions  you  have  taken  against 
too  easily  reducing  your  permissions  to  practice  will  save  you 
on  the  part  of  the  civil  powers,  who,  not  being  judges  in 
cases  of  conscience,  are  properly  concerned  only  with  the 
outward  practice.  Thus  an  opinion  which  would  be  con- 
demned under  the  name  of  practice,  comes  out  quite  safe 
under  the  name  of  speculation.  But  this  basis  once  estab- 
lished, it  is  not  difficult  to  erect  on  it  the  rest  of  your  max- 
ims. There  is  an  infinite  distance  between  God's  prohibition 
of  murder,  and  your  speculative  permission  of  the  crime ;  but 
between  that  permission  and  the  practice  the  distance  is  very 
small  indeed.  It  only  remains  to  show,  that  what  is  allowa- 
ble in  speculation  is  also  so  in  practice  ;  and  there  can  be  no 
want  of  reasons  for  this.  You  have  contrived  to  find  them, 
in  far  more  difficult  cases.  Would  you  like  to  see,  fathers, 
how  this  may  be  managed  ?  I  refer  you  to  the  reasoning  of 
Escobar,  who  has  distinctly  decided  the  point  in  the  first  of 
the  six  volumes  of  his  grand  Moral  Theology,  of  which  I  have 
already  spoken — a  work  in  which  he  shows  quite  another 
spirit  from  that  which  appears  in  his  former  compilation  from 
your  four-and-twenty  elders.  At  that  time  he  thought  that 
there  might  be  opinions  probable  in  speculation,  which  might 
not  be  safe  in  practice ;  but  he  has  now  come  to  form  an  op- 
posite judgment,  and  has,  in  this,  his  latest  work,  confirmed 
it.  Such  is  the  wonderful  growth  attained  by  the  doctrine 
of  probability  in  general,  as  well  as  by  every  probable  opinion 
in  particular,  in  the  course  of  time.  Attend,  then,  to  what 
he  says  :  "  I  cannot  see  how  it  can  be  that  an  action  which 
seems  allowable  in  speculation  should  not  be  so  likewise  in 
practice  ;  because  what  may  be  done  in  practice  depends  on 
what  is  found  to  be  lawful  in  speculation,  and  the  things 


268  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

differ  from  each  other  only  as  cause  and  Affect.  Speculation 
is  that  "which  determines  to  action.  WHENCE  IT  FOLLOWS 

THAT  OPINIONS    PROBABLE  IN  SPECULATION    MAY  BE  FOLLOWED 

WITH  A  SAFE  CONSCIENCE  IN  PRACTICE,  and  that  even  with 
more  safety  than  those  which  have  not  been  so  well  examined 
as  matters  of  speculation."* 

Verily,  fathers,  your  friend  Escobar  reasons  uncommonly 
well  sometimes  ;  and,  in  point  of  fact,  there  is  such  a  close 
connection  between  speculation  and  practice,  that  when  the 
former  has  once  taken  root,  you  have  no  difficulty  in  per- 
mitting the  latter,  without  any  disguise.  A  good  illustration 
of  this  we  have  in  the  permission  "  to  kill  for  a  buffet,"  which, 
from  being  a  point  of  simple  speculation,  was  boldly  raised 
by  Lessius  into  a' practice  "which  ought  not  easily  to  be  al- 
lowed ;"  from  that  promoted  by  Escobar  to  the  character  of 
"  an  easy  practice  ;"  and  from  thence  elevated  by  your  fathers 
of  Caen,  as  we  have  seen,  without  any  distinction  between 
theory  and  practice,  into  a  full  permission.  Thus  you  bring 
your  opinions  to  their  full  growth  very  gradually.  Were 
they  presented  all  at  once  in  their  finished  extravagance, 
they  would  beget  horror ;  but  this  slow  imperceptible  pro- 
gress gradually  habituates  men  to  the  sight  of  them,  and 
hides  their  offensiveness.  And  in  this  way  the  permission 
to  murder,  in  itself  so  odious  both  to  Church  and  State,  creeps 
first  into  the  Church,  and  then  from  the  Church  into  the 
State. 

A  similar  success  has  attended  the  opinion  of  "  killing  for 
slander,"  which  has  now  reached  the  climax  of  a  permission 
without  any  distinction.  I  should  not  have  stopped  to  quote 
my  authorities  on  this  point  from  your  writings,  had  it  not 
been  necessary  in  order  to  put  down  the  effrontery  with 
which  you  have  asserted,  twbe  over,  in  your  fifteenth  Impos- 
ture, "  that  there  never  was  a  Jesuit  who  permitted  killing 
for  slander."  Before  making  this  statement,  fathers,  you 
should  have  taken  care  to  prevent  it  from  coming  under  my 
notice,  seeing  that  it  is  so  easy  for  me  to  answer  it.  For, 
»  In  Pralog.,  n,  16. 


KILLING    FOR   SLANDKR.  269 

not  to  mention  that  your  fathers  Reginald,  Filiutius,  and  oth- 
ers, have  permitted  it  in  speculation,  as  I  have  already  shown, 
and  that  the  principle  laid  down  by  Escobar  leads  us  safely 
on  to  the  practice,  I  have  to  tell  you  that  you  have  authors 
who  have  permitted  it  in  so  many  words,  and  among  others 
Father  Hereau  in  his  public  lectures,  on  the  conclusion  of 
which  the  king  put  him  under  arrest  in  your  house,  for  hav- 
ing taught,  among  other  errors,  that  when  a  person  who  has 
slandered  us  in  the  presence  of  men  of  honor,  continues  to 
do  so  after  being  warned  to  desist,  it  is  allowable  to  kill  him, 
not  publicly,  indeed,  for  fear  of  scandal,  but  IN  A  PRIVATE 
WAY — sed  clam. 

I  have  had  occasion  already  to  mention  Father  Lamy,  and 
you  do  not  need  to  be  informed  that  his  doctrine  on  this  sub- 
ject was  censured  in  1649  by  the  University  of  Lou  vain.* 
And  yet  two  months  have  not  elapsed  since  your  Father  Des 
Bois  maintained  this  very  censured  doctrine  of  Father  Lamy, 
and  taught  that  "  it  was  allowable  for  a  monk  to  defend  the 
honor  which  he  acquired  bv  his  virtue,  EVEN  BY  KILLING  the 
person  who  assails  his  reputation — etiamcum  morte invasoris ;" 
which  has  raised  such  a  scandal  in  that  town,  that  the 
whole  of  the  cures  united  to  impose  silence  on  him,  and  to 
oblige  him,  by  a  canonical  process,  to  retract  his  doctrine. 
The  case  is  now  pending  in  the  Episcopal  court. 

What  say  you  now,  fathers  ?  Why  attempt,  after  that, 
to  maintain  that  "no  Jesuit  ever  held  that  it  was  lawful  to 
kill  for  slander  ?"  Is  anything  more  necessary  to  convince 
you  of  this  than  the  very  opinions  of  your  fathers  which  you 
quote,  since  they  do  not  condemn  murder  in  speculation,  but 
onlv  in  practice,  and  that,  too,  "on  account  of  the  injury 
that  might  thereby  accrue  to  the  State  ?"  And  here  I  would 

*  The  doctrines  advanced  liy  Lnmy  are  too  <jross  for  repntition.  Suf- 
fice it  to  say.  that  they  sanctioned  the  murder  not  onlv  of  the  slanderer, 
but  of  the  person  who  i.iijjht  tell  tales  against  n  rclirrious  order  of  one 
who  mi<jht  stand  in  the  way  of  another  enjoying  a  lejacyor  a  benofice, 
and  even  of  one  whom  a  priest  iniijht  hive  robh^d  of  her  honor,  if  she 
threatened  to  rob  him  of  .his.  These  horrid  maxims  were condemned 
by  civil  tribunals  and  theological  faculties ;  but  the  Jesuits  persisted  in 
justifying  them.  (Nicole,  Notes,  iv.  41,  &c.) 


270  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

just  beg  to  ask,  whether  the  whole  matter  in  dispute  between 
us  is  not  simply  and  solely  to  ascertain  if  you  have  or  have 
not  subverted  the  law  of  God  which  condemns  murder  ?  The 
point  in  question  is,  not  whether  you  have  injured  the  com- 
monwealth, but  whether  you  have  injured  religion.  What 
purpose,  then,  can  it  serve,  in  a  dispute  of  this  kind,  to  show 
ihat  you  have  spared  the  State,  when  you  make  it  apparent, 
at  the  same  time,  that  you  have  destroyed  the  faith  ?  Is 
this  not  evident  from  your  saying  that  the  meaning  of  Reg- 
bald,  on  the  question  of  killing  for  slanders,  is,  "  that  a  pri- 
vate individual  has  a  right  to  employ  that  mode  of  defence, 
viewing  it  simply  in  itself?"  I  desire  nothing  beyond  this 
concession  to  confute  you.  "  A  private  individual."  you  say, 
"  has  a  right  to  employ  that  mode  of  defence"  (that  is,  kill- 
ing for  slanders),  "viewing  the  thing  in  itself;"  and,  conse- 
quently, fathers,  the  law  of  God,  which  forbids  us  to  kill,  is 
nullified  by  that  decision. 

It  serves  no  purpose  to  add,  as  you  have  done,  "  that  such 
a  mode  is  unlawful  and  criminal,  even  according  to  the  law 
of  God,  on  account  of  the  murders  and  disorders  which 
would  follow  in  society,  because  the  law  of  God  obliges  us 
to  have  regard  to  the  good  of  society."  This  is  to  evade 
the  question :  for  there  are  two  laws  to  be  observed^-one 
forbidding  us  to  kill,  and  another  forbidding  us  to  harm  so- 
ciety. Reginald  has  not,  perhaps,  broken  the  law  which  for- 
bids us  to  do  harm  to  society ;  but  he  has  most  certainly 
violated  that  which  forbids  us  to  kill.  Now  this  is  the  only 
point  with  which  we  have  to  do.  I  might  have  shown,  be- 
sides, that  your  other  writers,  who  have  permitted  these 
murders  in  practice,  have  subverted  the  one  law  as  well  as 
the  other.  But,  to  proceed,  we  have  seen  that  you  sometimes 
forbid  doing  harm  to  the  State ;  and  you  allege  that  your 
design  in  that  is  to  fulfil  the  law  of  God,  which  obliges  us  to 
consult  the  interests  of  society.  That  may  be  true,  though 
it  is  far  from  being  certain,  as  you  might  do  the  same  thing 
purely  from  fear  of  the  civil  magistrate.  With  your  per- 


FEAR   OF   THE   CONSEQUENCES.  27 1 

mission,  then,  we  shall  scrutinize  the  real  secret  of  this  move- 
ment. 

Is  it  not  certain,  fathers,  that  if  you  had  really  any  regard 
to  God,  and  if  the  observance  of  his  law  had  been  the  prime 
and  principal  object  in  your  thoughts,  this  respect  would 
have  invariably  predominated  in  all  your  leading  decisions, 
and  would  have  engaged  you  at  all  times  on  the  side  of  re- 
ligion ?  But  if  it  turns  out,  on  the  contrary,  that  you  violate, 
in  innumerable  instances,  the  most  sacred  commands  that 
God  has  laid  upon  men,  and  that,  as  in  the  instances  before 
us,  you  annihilate  the  law  of  God,  which  forbids  these  ac- 
tions as  criminal  in  themselves,  and  that  you  only  scruple  to 
approve  of  them  in  practice,  from  bodily  fear  of  the  civil 
magistrate-,  do  you  not  afford  us  ground  to  conclude  that  you 
have  no  respect  to  God  in  your  apprehensions,  and  that  if 
you  yield  an  apparent  obedience  to  his  law,  in  so  far  as  re- 
gards the  obligation  to  do  no  harm  to  the  State,  this  is  not 
done  out  of  any  regard  to  the  law  itself,  but  to  compass 
your  own  ends,  as  has  ever  been  the  way  with  politicians  of 
no  religion  ? 

What,  fathers  !  will  you  tell  us  that,  looking  simply  to  the 
law  of  God,  which  says,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill,"  we  have  a 
right  to  kill  for  slanders  ?  And  after  having  thus  trampled 
on  the  eternal  law  of  God,  do  you  imagine  that  you  atone 
for  the  scandal  you  have  caused,  and  can  persuade  us  of  your 
reverence  for  him,  by  adding  that  you  prohibit  the  practice 
for  State  reasons,  and  from  dread  of  the  civil  arm  ?  Is  not 
this,  on  the  contrary,  to  raise  a  fresh  scandal  ? — I  mean  not 
by  the  respect  which  you  testify  for  the  magistrate  ;  that  is 
not  my  charge  against  you,  and  it  is  ridiculous  in  you  to  ban- 
ter, as  you  have  done,  on  this  matter.  I  blame  you,  not  for 
fearing  the  magistrate,  but  for  fearing  none  but  the  magis- 
trate. And  I  blame  you  for  this,  because  it  is  making  God 
less  the  enemy  of  vice  than  man.  Had  you  said  that  to  kill 
for  slander  was  allowable  according  to  men,  but  not  accord- 
ing to  God,  that  might  have  been  something  more  endurable  ; 
but  when  you  maintain,  that  what  is  too  criminal  to  be  tol- 


272  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

erated  among  men,  may  yet  be  innocent  and  right  in  the  eyes 
of  that  Being  who  is  righteousness  itself,  what  is  this  but  to 
declare  before  the  whole  world,  by  a  subversion  of  principle 
as  shocking  in  itself  as  it  is  alien  to  the  spirit  of  the  saints, 
that  while  you  can  be  braggarts  before  God,  you  are  cowards 
before  men  ? 

Had  you  really  been  anxious  to  condemn  these  homicides, 
you  would  have  allowed  the  commandment  of  God  which 
forbids  them  to  remain  intact ;  and  had  you  dared  at  once  to 
permit  them,  you  would  have  permitted  them  openly,  in  spite 
of  the  laws  of  God  and  men.  But  your  object  being  to  per- 
mit them  imperceptibly,  and  to  cheat  the  magistrate,  who 
watches  over  the  public  safety,  you  have  gone  craftily  to 
work.  You  separate  your  maxims  into  two  portions.  On 
the  one  side,  you  hold  out  "  that  it  is  lawful  in  speculation  to 
kill  a  man  for  slander;" — and  nobody  thinks  of  hindering 
you  from  taking  a  speculative  view  of  matters.  On  the  other 
side,  you  come  out  with  this  detached  axiom,  "  that  what  is 
permitted  in  speculation  is  also  permissible  in  practice  ;" — 
and  what  concern  does  society  seem  to  have  in  this  general 
and  metaphysical-looking  proposition  ?  And  thus  these  two 
principles,  so  little  suspected,  being  embraced  in  their  sep- 
arate form,  the  vigilance  of  the  magistrate  is  eluded ;  while 
it  is  only  necessary  to  combine  the  two  together,  to  draw 
from  them  the  conclusion  which  you  aim  at — namely,  that 
it  is  lawful  in  practice  to  put  a  man  to  death  for  a  simple 
slander. . 

It  is,  indeed,  fathers,  one  of  the  most  subtle  tricks  of  your 
policy,  to  scatter  through  your  publications  the  maxims 
which  you  club  together  in  your  decisions.  It  is  partly  in 
this  way  that  you  establish  your  doctrine  of  probabilities, 
which  I  have  frequently  had  occasion  to  explain.  That  gen- 
eral principle  once  established,  you  advance  propositions 
harmless  enough  when  viewed  apart,  but  which,  when  taken 
in  connection  with  that  pernicious  dogma,  become  positively 
horrible.  An  example  of  this,  which  demands  an  answer, 
may  be  found  in  the  llth  page  of  your  "  Impostures,"  where 


THE    POLICY   OF   JESUITISM.  273 

you  allege  that  "several  famous  theologians  have  decided 
that  it  is  lawful  to  kill  a  man  fora  box  on  the  ear."  Now, 
it  is  certain,  that  if  that  had  been  said  by  a  person  who  did 
not  hold  probabilism,  there  would  be  nothing  to  find  fault 
with  in  it ;  it  would  in  this  case  amount  to  no  more  than  a 
harmless  statement,  and  nothing  could  be  elicited  from  it. 
But  you,  fathers,  and  all  who  hold  that  dangerous  tenet, 
"  that  whatever  has  been  approved  by  celebrated  authors  is 
probable  and  safe  in  conscience,"  when  you  add  to  this  "that 
several  celebrated  authors  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  lawful  to 
kill  a  man  for  a  box  on  the  ear,"  what  is  this  but  to  put  a 
dagger  into  the  hand  of  all  Christians,  for  the  purpose  of 
plunging  it  into  the  heart  of  the  first,  person  that  insults  them, 
and  to  assure  them  that,  having  the  judgment  of  so  many 
grave  authors  on  their  side,  they  may  do  so  with  a  perfectly 
safe  conscience  ? 

What  monstrous  species  of  language  is  this,  which,  in  an- 
nouncing that  certain  authors  hold  a  detestable  opinion,  is  at 
the  same  time  giving  a  decision  in  favor  of  that  opinion — 
which  solemnly  teaches  whatever  it  simply  tells  !  We  hav« 
learnt,  fathers,  to  understand  this  peculiar  dialect  of  the 
Jesuitical  school ;  and  it  is  astonishing  that  you  have  the 
hardihood  to  speak  it  out  so  freely,  for  it  betrays  your  senti- 
ments somewhat  too  broadly.  It  convicts  you  of  permitting 
murder  for  a  buffet,  as  often  as  you  repeat  that  many  cele- 
brated authors  have  maintained  that  opinion. 

This  charge,  fathers,  you  will  never  be  able  to  repel ;  noi 
will  you  be  much  helped  out  by  those  passages  from  Vas- 
quez  and  Suarez  that  you  adduce  against  me,  in  which  they 
condemn  the  murders  which  their  associates  have  approved. 
These  testimonies,  disjoined  from  the  rest  of  your  doctrine, 
may  hoodwink  those  who  know  little  about  it  ;  but  we,  who 
know  better,  put  your  principles  and  maxims  together.  You 
say,  then,  that  Vasquez  condemns  murders ;  but  what  say 
you  on  the  other  side  of  the  question,  my  reverend  fathers  ? 
Why,  "  that  the  probability  of  one  sentiment  does  not  hinder 
the  probability  of  the  opposite  sentiment ;  and  that  it  is  war- 
12* 


274  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

rantable  to  follow  the  less  probable  and  less  safe  opinion, 
giving  up  the  more  probable  and  more  safe  one."  What  fol- 
lows from  all  this  taken  in  connection,  but  that  we  have  per- 
fect freedom  of  conscience  to  adopt  any  one  of  these  conflict- 
ing judgments  which  pleases  us  best  ?  And  what  becomes 
of  all  the  effect  which  you  fondly  anticipate  from  your  quo- 
tations ?  It  evaporates  in  smoke,  for  we  have  no  more  to  do 
than  to  conjoin  for  your  condemnation  the  maxims  which  you 
have  disjoined  for  your  exculpation.  Why,  then,  produce 
those  passages  of  your  authors  which  I  have  not  quoted,  to 
qualify  those  which  I  have  quoted,  as  if  the  one  could  excuse 
the  other  ?  What  right  does  that  give  you  to  call  me  an 
"  impostor  ?"  Have  I  said  that  all  your  fathers  are  impli- 
cated in  the  same  corruptions  ?  Have  I  not,  on  the  contrary, 
been  at  pains  to  show  that  your  interest  lay  in  having  them 
of  all  different  minds,  in  order  to  suit  all  your  purposes  ? 
Do  you  wish  to  kill  your  man  ? — here  is  Lessius  for  you. 
Are  you  inclined  to  spare  him  ? — here  is  Vasquez.  Nobody 
need  go  away  in  ill  humor — nobody  without  the  authority  of 
a  grave  doctor.  Lessius  will  talk  to  you  like  a  Heathen  on 
homicide,  and  like  a  Christian,  it  may  be,  on  charity.  Vas- 
quez, again,  will  descant  like  a  Heathen  on  charity,  and  like 
a  Christian  on  homicide.  But  by  means  of  probabilism, 
which  is  held  both  by  Vasquez  and  Lessius,  and  which 
renders  all  your  opinions  common  property,  they  will  lend 
their  opinions  to  one  another,  and  each  will  be  held  bound  to 
absolre  those  who  have  acted  according  to  opinions  which 
each  of  them  has  condemned.  It  is  this  very  variety,  then, 
that  confounds  you.  Uniformity,  even  in  evil,  would  be 
better  than  this.  Nothing  is  more  contrary  to  the  orders 
of  St.  Ignatius*  and  the  first  generals  of  your  Society,  than 

*  It  M  very  sad  to  see  Pascal  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  saluting  the 
founder  of  the  sect  which  he  held  up  to  the  scorn  of  the  world,  as  Saint 
Ignatius !  Ignatius  Loyola  was  a  native  of  Spain,  and  born  in  1491. 
At  first  a  soldier  of  fortune,  he  was  disabled  from  service  by  a  wound 
in  the  leg  at  the  siege  of  Pampeluna.  and  his  brain  having  become  heated 
by  reading  romances  and  legendary  tales,  he  took  it  into  his  head  to 
become  the  Don  Quixote  of  the  Virgin,  and  wage  war  against  all  here- 
tics and  infidels  By  indomitable  perseverance  he  succeeded  in  estab- 


PUOBABILISM.  275 

this  confused  medley  of  all  sorts  of  opinions,  good  and  bad. 
I  may,  perhaps,  enter  on  this  topic  at  some  future  period ; 
and  it  will  astonish  many  to  see  how  far  you  have  degener- 
ated from  the  original  spirit  of  your  institution,  and  that  your 
own  generals  have  foreseen  that  the  corruption  of  your  doc- 
trine on  morals  might  prove  fatal,  not  only  to  your  Society, 
but  to  the  Church  universal.* 

Meanwhile,  I  repeat  that  you  can  derive  no  advantage  from 
the  doctrine  of  Vasquez.  It  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if, 
out  of  all  the  Jesuits  that  have  written  on  morals,  one  or  two 
could  not  be  found  who  may  have  hit  upon  a  truth  which  has 
been  confessed  by  all  Christians.  There  is  no  glory  in  main- 
taining the  truth,  according  to  the  Gospel,  that  it  is  unlawful 
to  kill  a  man  for  smiting  us  on  the  face  ;  but  it  is  foul  shame 
to  deny  it.  So  far,  indeed,  from  justifying  you,  nothing  tells 
more  fatally  against  you  than  the  fact  that,  having  doctors 
among  you  who  have  told  you  the  truth,  you  abide  not  in  the 
truth,  but  love  the  darkness  rather  than  the  light.  You  have 
been  taught  by  Vasquez  that  it  is  a  heathen,  and  not  a  Chris- 
tian, opinion  to  hold  that  we  may  knock  down  a  man  for  a 
blow  on  the  cheek ;  and  that  it  is  subversive  both  of  the  Gos- 
pel and  of  the  decalogue  to  say  that  we  may  kill  for  such  a 
matter.  The  most  profligate  of  men  will  acknowledge  as 
much.  And  yet  you  have  allowed  Lessius,  Escobar,  and  oth- 
ers, to  decide,  in  the  face  of  these  well-known  truths,  and  in 

lishing  the  sect  calling  itself  "the  Society  of  Jesus."  This  ignorant 
fanatic,  who,  in  more  enlightened  times,  would  have  been  consigned  to 
a  mad-house,  was  beatified  by  one  pope,  and  canonized,  or  put  into  the 
list  of  saints,  by  another !  Jansenius,  in  his  correspondence  with  St. 
Cyran,  indignantly  complains  of  pope  Gregory  XV.  for  having  canon- 
ized Ignatius  jind  Xavier.  (Leydecker,  Hist.  Jansen.  23.) 

*  This  is  rather  a  singular  fact,  and  applies  only  to  one  of  the  Soci- 
ety's generals,  viz.,  Vitelleschi.  who.  in  a  circular  letter,  addressed, 
January  1617,  to  the  Company,  much  to  his  own  honor,  strongly  rec- 
ommended a  purer  morality,  and  denounced  probabilism.  But.  says 
Nicole,  the  Jesuits  did  not  profit  by  his  good  advice.  (Nicole,  iv.,  p. 
33.)  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  Jesuits,  during  this  century,  had  lost 
sight  of  the  original  design  of  their  order  and  of  all  the  ascetic  rules  of 
their  founders.  Ignatius  and  Aquaviva.  "  The  spirit  which  once  ani- 
mated them  had  fallen  before  the  temptations  of  the  world,  and  their 
sole  endeavor  now  was  to  make  themselves  necessary  to  mankind,  let 
the  means  be  what  they  might,"  (Ranke's  Hist,  of  the  Popes,  iii.  139.) 


276  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

spite  of  all  the  laws  of  God  against  manslaughter,  that  it  is 
quite  allowable  to  kill  a  man  for  a  buffet ! 

What  purpose,  then,  can  it  serve  to  set  this  passage  of  Vas- 
quez  over  against  the  sentiment  of  Lessius,  unless  you  mean 
to  show  that,  in  the  opinion  of  Vasquez,  Lessius  is  a  "  hea- 
then" and  a  "  profligate  ?"  and  that,  fathers,  is  more  than  I 
durst  have  said  myself.  What  else  can  be  deduced  from  it 
than  that  Lessius  "  subverts  both  the  Gospel  and  the  deca- 
logue ;"  that,  at  the  last  day,  Vasquez  will  condemn  Lessius 
on  this  point,  as  Lessius  will  condemn  Vasquez  on  another ; 
and  that  all  your  fathers  will  rise  up  in  judgment  one  against 
another,  mutually  condemning'each  other  for  their  sad  out- 
rages on  the  law  of  Jesus  Christ  ? 

To  this  conclusion,  then,  reverend  fathers,  must  we  come 
at  length,  that  as  your  probabilism  renders  the  good  opinions 
of  some  of  your  authors  useless  to  the  Church,  and  useful 
only  to  your  policy,  they  merely  serve  to  betray,  by  their 
contrariety,  the  duplicity  of  your  hearts.  This  you  have 
completely  unfolded,  by  telling  us,  on  the  one  hand,  that 
Vasquez  and  Suarez  are  against  homicide,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  that  many  celebrated  authors  are  for  homicide ;  thus 
presenting  two  roads  to  our  choice,  and  destroying  the  sim- 
plicity of  the  Spirit  of  God,  who  denounces  his  anathema  on 
the  deceitful  and  the  double-hearted  :  "  Vce  duplici  corde,  et 
ingredienti  duabus  viis  ! — Woe  be  to  the  double  hearts,  and 
the  sinner  that  goeth  two  ways  !"* 

*  Ecclariasticus  (Apocrypha),  ii.  13. 


-       LETTER  XIV. 

TO  THE  REVEREND  FATHERS,   THE  JESUITS. 

IS   WHICH   THE   MAXIMS   OF  THE  JESUITS  ON  MURDER  ARE  REFUTED 

FROM  THE  FATHERS SOME    OF   THEIR   CALUMNIES   ANSWERED  BY 

THE   WAT — AND   THEIR   DOCTRINE    COMPARED   WITH   THE   FORMS 
OBSERVED   IN   CRIMINAL   TRIALS. 

October  23,  1656. 

KEVEREND  FATHERS, — If  I  had  merely  to  reply  to  the  three 
remaining  charges  on  the  subject  of  homicide,  there  would 
be  no  need  for  a  long  discourse,  and  you  will  see  them  refu- 
ted presently  in  a  few  words  ;  but  as  I  think  it  of  much  more 
importance  to  inspire  the  public  with  a  horror  at  your  opin- 
ions on  this  subject,  than  to  justify  the  fidelity  of  my  quota- 
tions, I  shall  be  obliged  to  devote  the  greater  part  of  this  let- 
ter to  the  refutation  of  your  maxims,  to  show  you  how  fur 
you  have  departed  from  the  sentiments  of  the  Church,  and 
even  of  nature  itself.  The  permissions  of  murder,  which  you 
have  granted  in  such  a  variety  of  cases,  render  it  very  ap- 
parent, that  you  have  so  far  forgotten  the  law  of  God,  and 
quenched  the  light  of  nature,  as  to  require  to  be  remanded  to 
the  simplest  principles  of  religion  and  of  common  sense. 

What  can  be  a  plainer  dictate  of  nature  than  that  "no  pri- 
vate individual  has  a  right  to  take  away  the  life  of  another?" 
"  So  well  are  we  taught  this  of  ourselves,"  says  St.  Chrysos- 
tom,  "that  God,  in  giving  the  commandment  not  to  kill,  did 
not  add  as  a  reason  that  homicide  was  an  evil ;  because," 
says  that  father,  "  the  law  supposes  that  nature  has  taught 
us  that  truth  already."  Accordingly,  this  commandment 
has  been  binding  on  men  in  all  ages.  The  Gospel  has  con- 
firmed the  requirement  of  the  law ;  and  the  decalogue  oarj 


278  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

renewed  the  command  which  man  had  received  from  God 
before  the  law,  in  the  person  of  Noah,  from  -whom  all  men 
are  descended.  On  that  renovation  of  the  world,  God  said 
to  the  patriarch :  "  At  the  hand  of  man,  and  at  the  hand  of 
every  man's  brother,  will  I  require  the  life  of  man.  Whoso 
sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood  be  shed ;  for 
man  is  made  in  the  image  pf  God."  (Gen.  ix.  5,  6.)  This 
general  prohibition  deprives  man  of  all  power  over  the  life 
of  man.  And  so  exclusively  has  vhe  Almighty  reserved  this 
prerogative  in  his  own  hand,  that,  in  accordance  with  Chris- 
tianity, which  is  at  utter  variance  with  the  false  maxims  of 
Paganism,  man  has  no  power  even  over  his  own  life.  But,  as 
it  has  seemed  good  to  his  providence  to  take  human  society 
under  his  protection,  and  to  punish  the  evil-doers  that  give  it 
disturbance,  he  has  himself  established  laws  for  depriving 
criminals  of  life ;  and  thus  those  executions  which,  without 
his  sanction,  would  be  punishable  outrages,  become,  by  vir- 
tue of  his  authority,  which  is  the  rule  of  justice,  praiseworthy 
penalties.  St.  Augustine  takes  an  admirable  view  of  this 
subject.  "  God,"  he  says,  "  has  himself  qualified  this  gen- 
eral prohibition  against  manslaughter,  both  by  the  laws  which 
he  has  instituted  for  the  capital  punishment  of  malefactors, 
and  by  the  special  orders  which  he  has  sometimes  issued  to 
put  to  death  certain  individuals.  And  when  death  is  inflicted 
in  such  cases,  it  is  not  man  that  kills,  but  God,  of  whom  man 
may  be  considered  as  only  the  instrument,  in  the  same  way 
as  a  sword  in  the  hand  of  him  that  wields  it.  But,  these 
instances  excepted,  whosoever  kills  incurs  the  guilt  of  mur- 
der."* 

It  appears,  then,  fathers,  that  the  right  of  taking  away  the 
life  of  man  is  the  sole  prerogative  of  God,  and  that  having 
ordained  laws  for  executing  death  on  criminals,  he  has  depu- 
ted kings  or  commonwealths  as  the  depositaries  of  that  power 
— a  truth  which  St.  Paul  teaches  us,  when,  speaking  of  the 
right  which  sovereigns  possess  over  the  lives  of  their  sub- 
jects, he  deduces  it  from  Heaven  in  these  words  :  "  He  bear- 
*  City  of  God,  booki.  ch.  23. 


THE    SCRIPTURE    ON   MURDER.  279 

eth  not  the  sword  in  vain  ;  for  he  is  the  minister  of  God  to 
execute  wrath  upon  him  that  doeth  evil."  (Rom.  xiii.  4.) 
But  as  it  is  God  who  has  put  this  power  into  their  hands,  so 
he  requires  them  to  exercise  it  in  the  same  manner  as  he  does 
himself;  in  other  words,  with  perfect  justice;  according  to 
what  St.  Paul  observes  in  the  same  passage :  "  Rulers  are  not 
a  terror  to  good  works,  but  to  the  evil.  Wilt  thou,  then,  not 
be  afraid  of  the  power  ?  Do  that  which  is  good  :  for  he  is 
the  minister  of  God  to  thee  for  good."  And  this  restriction, 
so  far  from  lowering  their  prerogative,  exalts  it,  on  the  con- 
trary, more  than  ever ;  for  it  is  thus  assimilated  to  that  of 
God,  who  has  no  power  to  do  evil,  but  is  all-powerful  to  do 
good ;  and  it  is  thus  distinguished  from  that  of  devils,  who 
are  impotent  in  that  which  is  good,  and  powerful  only  for 
evil.  There  is  this  difference  only  to  be  observed  betwixt 
the  King  of  Heaven  and  earthly  sovereigns,  that  God,  being 
justice  and  wisdom  itself,  may  inflict  death  instantaneously 
on  whomsoever  and  in  whatsoever  manner  he  pleases ;  for, 
besides  his  being  the  sovereign  Lord  of  human  life,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  he  never  takes  it  away  either  without  cause  or  with 
out  judgment,  because  he  is  as  incapable  of  injustice  as  he  is 
of  error.  Earthly  potentates,  however,  are  not  at  liberty  to 
act  in  this  manner;  for,  though  the  ministers  of  God,  still 
they  are  but  men,  and  not  gods.  They  may  be  misguided 
by  evil  counsels,  irritated  by  false  suspicions,  transported  by 
passion,  and  hence  they  find  themselves  obliged  to  have  re- 
course, in  their  turn  also,  to  human  agency,  and  appoint  mag- 
istrates in  their  dominions,  to  whom  they  delegate  their  power, 
that  the  authority  which  God  has  bestowed  on  them  may  be 
employed  solely  for  the  purpose  for  which  they  received  it. 

I  hope  you  understand,  then,  fathers,  that  to  avoid  the 
crime  of  murder,  we  must  act  at  once  by  the  authority  of 
God,  and  according  to  the  justice  of  God ;  and  that  when 
these  two  conditions  are  not  united,  sin  is  contracted  ;  wheth- 
er it  be  by  taking  away  life  with  his  authority,  but  without 
his  justice ;  or  by  taking  it  away  with  justice,  but  without 
his  authority.  From  this  indispensable  connection  it  follows, 


280  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

according  to  St.  Augustine,  "that  he  who,  without  proper 
authority,  kills  a  criminal,  becomes  a  criminal  himself,  chiefly 
for  this  reason,  that  he  usurps  au  authority  which  God  has 
not  given  him  ;"  and  on  the  other  hand,  magistrates,  though 
they  possess  this  authority,  are  nevertheless  chargeable  with 
murder,  if,  contrary  to  the  laws  which  they  are  bound  to 
follow,  they  inflict  death  on  an  innocent  man. 

Such  are  the  principles  of  public  safety  and  tranquillity 
which  have  been  admitted  at  all  times  and  in  all  places,  and 
on  the  basis  of  which  all  legislators,  sacred  and  profane,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  world,  have  founded  their  laws.  Even 
Heathens  have  never  ventured  to  make  an  exception  to  this 
rule,  unless  in  cases  where  there  was  no  other  way  of 
escaping  the  loss  of  chastity  or  life,  when  they  conceived, 
as  Cicero  tells  us,  "that  the  law  itself  seemed  to  put  its 
weapons  into  the  hands  of  those  who  were  placed  in  such  an 
emergency." 

But  with  this  single  exception,  which  has  nothing  to  do 
with  my  present  purpose,  that  such  a  law  was  ever  enacted, 
authorizing  or  tolerating,  as  you  have  done,  the  practice  of 
putting  a  man  to  death,  .to  atone  for  an  insult,  or  to  avoid 
the  loss  of  honor  or  property,  where  life  is  not  in  danger  at 
the  same  time ;  that,  fathers,  is  what  I  deny  was  ever  done, 
even  by  infidels.  They  have,  on  the  contrary,  most  expressly 
forbidden  the  practice.  The  law  of  the  Twelve  Tables  of 
Rome  bore,  "  that  it  is  unlawful  to  kill  a  robber  in  the  day- 
time, when  he  does  not  defend  himself  with  arms ;"  which, 
indeed,  had  been  prohibited  long  before  in  the  22d  chapter 
of  Exodus.  And  the  law  Furem,  in  the  Lex  Cornelia,  which 
is  borrowed  from  Ulpian,  forbids  the  killing  of  robbers  even 
by  night,  if  they  do.  not  put  us  in  danger  of  our  lives.* 

Tell  us  .now,  fathers,  what  authority  you  have  to  permit 
what  all  laws,  human  as  well  as  divine,  have  forbidden  ;  and 
who  gave  Lessius  a  right  to  use  the  following  language  ? 
"  The  book  of  Exodus  forbids  the  killing  of  thieves  by  day, 
when  they  do  not  employ  arms  in  their  defence ;  and  in  a 
*  See  Cnjas,  tit.  dig.  de  just,  et  jur.  ad  L  3. 


LESSItTS    ON    MURDER.  281 

court  of  justice,  punishment  is  inflicted  on  those  who  kill 
under  these  circumstances.  In  conscience,  however,  no  blame 
can  be  attached  to  this  practice,  when  a  person  is  not  sure 
of  being  able  otherwise  to  recover  his  stolen  goods,  or  enter- 
tains a  doubt  on  the  subject,  as  Sotus  expresses  it ;  for  he  is 
not  obliged  to  run  the  risk  of  losing  any  part  of  his  property 
merely  to  save  the  life  of  a  robber.  The  same  privilege  ex- 
tends even  to  clergymen."*  Such  extraordinary  assurance  ! 
The  law  of  Moses  punishes  those  who  kill  a  thief  when  he 
does  not  threaten  our  lives,  and  the  law  of  the  Gospel,  ac- 
cording to  you,  will  absolve  them !  What,  fathers  !  has 
Jesus  Christ  come  to  destroy  the  law,  and  not  to  fulfil  it  ? 
"The  civil  judge,"  says  Lessius,  "would  inflict  punishment 
on  those  who  should  kill  under  such  circumstances  ;  but  no 
blame  can  be  attached  to  the  deed  in  conscience."  Must  we 
conclude,  then,  that  the  morality  of  Jesus  Christ  is  more 
sanguinary,  and  less  the  enemy  of  murder,  than  that  of 
Pagans,  from  whom  our  judges  have  borrowed  their  civil 
laws  which  condemn  that  crime  ?  Do  Christians  make  more 
account  of  the  good  things  of  this  earth,  and  less  account  of 
human  life,  than  infidels  and  idolaters  ?  On  what  principle 
do  you  proceed,  fathers  ?  Assuredly  not  upon  any  law  that 
ever  was  enacted  either  by  God  or  man — on  nothing,  indeed, 
but  this  extraordinary  reasoning :  "  The  laws,"  say  you,  "  per- 
mit us  to  defend  ourselves  against  robbers,  and  to  repel  force 
by  force  ;  self-defence,  therefore,  being  permitted,  it  follows 
that  murder,  without  which  self-defence  is  often  impractica- 
ble, may  be  considered  as  permitted  also." 

It  is  false,  fathers,  that  because  self-defence  is  allowed, 
murder  may-be  allowed  also.  This  barbarous  method  of 
self-vindication  lies  at  the  root  of  all  your  errors,  and  has 
been  justly  stigmatized  by  the  Faculty  of  Louvain,  in  tlieir 
censure  of  the  doctrine  of  your  friend  Father  Lamy,  as  "  a 
murderous  defence — defensio  occisiva."  I  maintain  that  the 
laws  recognize  such  a  wide  difference  between  murder  and 
self-defence,  that  in  those  very  cases  in  which  the  latter  is 
*  L.  2,  c.  9,  n.  66, 72. 


282  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

sanctioned,  they  have  made  a  provision  against  murder,  when 
the  person  is  in  no  danger  of  his  life.  Read  the  \vords,  fa- 
thers, as  they  run  in  the  same  passage  of  Cujas :  "  It  is  law- 
ful to  repulse  the  person  who  comes  to  invade  our  property  ; 
but  ice  are  not  permitted  to  kill  him.  And  again  :  "  If  any 
should  threaten  to  strike  us,  and  not  to  deprive  us  of  life,  it 
is  quite  allowable  to  repulse*him ;  but  it  is  against  all  law 
to  put  him  to  death." 

Who,  then,  has  given  you  a  right  to  say,  as  Molina,  Regi- 
nald, Filiutius,  Escobar,  Lessius,  and  others  among  you, 
have  said,  "  that  it  is  lawful  to  kill  the  man  who  offers  to 
strike  us  a  blow  ?"  or,  "  that  it  is  lawful  to  take  the  life  of 
one  who  means  to  insult  us,  by  the  common  consent  of  all 
the  casuists,"  as  Lessius  says.  By  what  authority  do  you, 
who  are  mere  private  individuals,  confer  upon  other  private 
individuals,  not  excepting  clergymen,  this  right  of  killing  and 
slaying  ?  And  how  dare  you  usurp  the  power  of  life  and 
death,  which  belongs  essentially  to  none  but  God,  and  which 
is  the  most  glorious  mark  of  sovereign  authority  ?  These 
are  the  points  that  demand  explanation  ;  and  yet  you  con- 
ceive that  you  have  furnished  a  triumphant  reply  to  the 
whole,  by  simply  remarking,  in  your  thirteenth  Imposture, 
"  that  the  value  for  which  Molina  permits  us  to  kill  a  thief, 
who  flies  without  having  done  us  any  violence,  is  not  so 
small  as  I  have  said,  and  that  it  must  be  a  much  larger  sum 
than  six  ducats !"  How  extremely  silly  !  Pray,  fathers, 
where  would  you  have  the  price  to  be  fixed  ?  At  fifteen  or 
sixteen  ducats  ?  Do  not  suppose  that  this  will  produce  any 
abatement  in  my  accusations.  At  all  events,  you  cannot 
make  it  exceed  the  value  of  a  horse ;  for  Lessius  is  clearly  of 
opinion,  "  that  we  may  lawfully  kill  the  thief  that  runs  off 
with  our  horse."*  But  I  must  tell  you,  moreover,  that  I 
was  perfectly  correct  when  I  said  that  Molina  estimates  the 
value  of  the  thief's  life  at  six  ducats ;  and,  if  you  will  not 
take  it  upon  my  word,  we  shall  refer  it  to  an  umpire,  to 
whom  you  cannot  object.  The  person  whom  I  fix  upon  for 
*  L.  ii.,  c.  9,  n.  74. 


MOLINA    ON    MURDER.  283 

this  office  is  your  own  Father  Reginald,  who,  in  his  explana- 
tion of  the  same  passage  of  Molina  (1.  28,  n.  68),  declares 
that  "  Molina  there  DETERMINES  the  sum  for  which  it  is  not 
allowable  to  kill  at  three,  or  four,  or  five  ducats."  And 
thus,  fathers,  I  shall  have  Reginald  in  addition  to  Molina,  to 
bear  me  out. 

It  will  be  equally  easy  for  me  to  refute  your  fourteenth 
Imposture,  touching  Molina's  permission  to  "  kill  a  thief  who 
offers  to  rob  us  of  a  crown."  This  palpable  fact  is  attested 
by  Escobar,  who  tells  us  "  that  Molina  has  regularly  deter- 
mined the  sum  for  which  it  is  lawful  to  take  away  life,  at  one 
crown."*  And  all  you  have  to  lay  to  my  charge  in  the 
fourteenth  imposture  is,  that  I  have  suppressed  the  last 
words  of  this  passage,  namely,  "  that  in  this  matter  every 
one  ought  to  study  the  moderation  of  a  just  self-defence." 
Why  do  you  not  complain  that  Escobar  has  also  omitted  to 
mention  these  words  ?  But  how  little  tact  you  have  about 
you  !  You  imagine  that  nobody  understands  what  you  mean 
by  self-defence.  Don't  we  know  that  it  is  to  employ  "a 
murderous  defence?"  You  would  persuade  us  that  Molina 
meant  to  say,  that  if  a  person,  in  defending  his  crown,  finds 
himself  in  danger  of  his  life,  he  is  then  at  liberty  to  kill  his 
assailant,  in  self-preservation.  If  that  were  true,  fathers, 
why  should  Molina  say  in  the  same  place,  that  "  in  this  mat- 
ter he  was  of  a  contrary  judgment  from  Carrer  and  Bald," 
who  give  permission  to  kill  in  self-preservation  ?  I  repeat, 
therefore,  that  his  plain  meaning  is,  that  provided  the  person 
can  save  his  crown  without  killing  the  thief,  he  ought  not  to 
kill  him ;  but  that,  if  he  cannot  secure  his  object  without 
shedding  blood,  even  though  he  should  run  no  risk  of  his 
own  life,  as  in  the  case  of  the  robber  being  unarmed,  he  is 
permitted  to  take  up  arms  and  kill  the  man,  in  order  to  save 
his  crown  ;  and  in  so  doing,  according  to  him,  the  person 
does  not  transgress  "  the  moderation  of  a  just  defence."  To 
show  you  that  I  am  in  the  right,  just  allow  him  to  explain 
himself :  "  One  does  not  exceed  the  moderation  of  a  just  de- 
*  T/eat.  i,  examp.  7,  n.  44. 


284  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

fence,"  says  he,  "  when  he  takes  up  arras  against  a  thief  who 
has  none,  or  employs  weapons  which  give  him  the  advantage 
over  his  assailant.  I  know  there  are  some  who  are  of  a  con- 
trary judgment ;  but  I  do  not  approve  of  their  opinion,  even 
in  the  external  tribunal."* 

Thus,  fathers,  it  is  unquestionable  that  your  authors  have 
given  permission  to  kill  in  defence  of  property  and  honor, 
though  life  should  be  perfectly  free  from  danger.  And  it  is 
upon  the  same  principle  that  they  authorize  duelling,  as  I 
have  shown  by  a  great  variety  of  passages  from  their  writ- 
ings, to  which  you  have  made  no  reply.  You  have  animad- 
verted in  your  writings  only  on  a  single  passage  taken  from 
Father  Layman,  who  sanctions  the  above  practice,  "when 
otherwise  a  person  would  be  in  danger  of  sacrificing  his 
fortune  or  his  honor ;"  and  here  you  accuse  me  with  having 
suppressed  what  he  adds,  "  that  such  a  case  happens  very 
rarely."  You  astonish  me,  fathers  :  these  are  really  curious 
impostures  you  charge  me  withal.  You  talk  as  if  the  ques- 
tion were,  Whether  that  is  a  rare  case  ?  when  the  real  ques- 
tion is,  If,  in  such  a  case,  duelling  is  lawful  ?  These  are  two 
very  different  questions.  Layman,  in  the  quality  of  a  casuist, 
ought  to  judge  whether  duelling  is  lawful  in  the  case  sup- 
posed ;  and  he  declares  that  it  is.  We  can  judge  without  his 
assistance,  whether  the  case  be  a  rare  one  ;  and  we  can  tell 
him  that  it  is  a  very  ordinary  one.  Or,  if  you  prefer  the 
testimony  of  your  good  friend  Diana,  he  will  tell  you  that 
'^the  case  is  exceedingly  coramon."f  But  be  it  rare  or  not, 
and  let  it  be  granted  that  Layman  follows  in  this  the  exam- 
ple of  Navarre,  a  circumstance  on  which  you  lay  so  much 
stress,  is  it  not  shameful  that  he  should  consent  to  such  an 
opinion  as  that,  to  preserve  a  false  honor,  it  is  lawful  in  con- 

*  In  casuistical  divinity,  a  distinction  is  drawn  between  the  internal 
and  the  external  tribunal  or  forum  as  it  is  called.  The  internal  tribu- 
nal or  the  forum  poli  is  that  of  conscience  or  the  judgment  formed  of 
actions  according  to  the  law  of  God.  The  external  tribunal,  or  the 
forum  soli,  is  that  of  human  society,  or  the  judgment  of  actions  in  the 
estimation  of  men,  and  according  to  civil  law.  (Voet.  Disp.  Theol.,  iv. 
62.) 

t  Part.  5,  tr.  19,  misc.  2,  resol.  99. 


KILLING    FOB   A.N    APPLE.  285 

pcl^icw  to  accept  of  a  challenge,  in  the  face  of  the  edicts  of 
all  Chrijtian  states,  and  of  all  the  canons  of  the  Church, 
while,  in  support  of  these  diabolical  maxims,  you  can  pro- 
duce neiOitr  laws,  nor  canons,  nor  authorities  from  Scripture, 
or  from  the  fathers,  nor  the  example  of  a  single  saint,  nor,  in 
short, any thJAg  but  the  following  impious  syllogism:  "Honor 
is  more  than  life :  it  is  allowable  to  kill  in  defence  of  life ; 
therefore  it  is  allowable  to  kill  in  defence  of  honor !"  What, 
fathers  !  because  the  depravity  of  men  disposes  them  to  pre- 
fer that  factitious  honor  before  the  life  which  God  hath  given 
them  to  be  devoUd  to  his  service,  must  they  be  permitted  to 
murder  one  another  for  its  preservation  ?  To  love  that 
honor  more  than  life,  is  in  itself  a  heinous  evil ;  and  yet  this 
vicious  passion,  which,  when  proposed  as  the  end  of  our  con- 
duct, is  enough  to  tarnish  the  holiest  of  actions,  is  considered 
by  you  capable  of  sanctifying  the  most  criminal  of  them  ! 

What  a  subversion  of  all  principle  is  here,  fathers  !  And 
who  does  not  see  to  what  atrocious  excesses  it  may  lead  ? 
It  is  obvious,  indeed,  that  it  will  ultimately  lead  to  the  com- 
mission of  murder  for  the  most  trifling  things  imaginable, 
when  one's  honor  is  considered  to  be  staked  for  their  preser- 
vation— murder,  I  venture  to  say,  even  for  an  apple  !  You 
might  complain  of  me,  fathers,  for  drawing  sanguinary  infer- 
ences from  your  doctrine  with  a  malicious  intent,  were  I  not 
fortunately  supported  by  the  authority  of  the  grave  Lessius, 
who  makes  the  following  observation,  in  number  68  :  "  It  is 
not  allowable  to  take  life  for  an  article  of  small  value,  such  as 
for  a  crown  or  for  an  apple — aut  pro  porno — unless  it  would 
be  deemed  dishonorable  to  lose  it.  In  this  case,  one  may 
recover  the  article,  and  even,  if  necessary,  kill  the  aggressor  ; 
for  this  is  not  so  much  defjjpding  one's  property  as  retrieving 
one's  honor."  This  is  plain  speaking,  fathers ;  and,  just  to 
crown  your  doctrine  with  a  maxim  which  includes  all  the  rest, 
allow  me  to  quote  the  following  from  Father  Hereau,  who 
has  trtken  it  from  Lessius  :  "  The  right  of  self-defence  extends 
to  whatever  is  necessary  to  protect  ourselves  from  all  in- 
jury." 


286  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

What  strange  consequences  does  this  inhuman  principle 
involve !  and  how  imperative  is  the  obligation  laid  upon  all, 
and  especially  upon  those  in  public  stations,  to  set  their  face 
against  it !  Not  the  general  good  alone,  but  their  own  per- 
sonal interest  should  engage  them  to  see  well  to  it ;  for  the 
casuists  of  your  school  whom  I  have  cited  in  my  letters,  ex- 
tend their  permissions  to  kill  far  enough  to  reach  even  them. 
Factious  men,  who  dread  the  punishment  of  their  outrages, 
which  never  appear  to  them  in  a  criminal  light,  easily  per- 
suade themselves  that  they  are  the  victims  of  violent  oppres- 
sion, and  will  be  led  to  believe  at  the  same  time,  "  that  the 
right  of  self-defence  extends  to  whatever  is  necessary  to  pro- 
tect themselves  from  all  injury."  And  thus,  relieved  from 
contending  against  the  checks  of  conscience,  which  stifle  the 
greater  number  of  crimes  at  their  birth,  their  only  anxiety 
will  be  to  surmont  external  obstacles. 

I  shall  say  no  more  on  this  subject,  fathers  ;  nor  shall  I 
dwell  on  the  other  murders,  still  more  odious  and  important 
to  governments,  which  you  sanction,  and  of  which  Lessius, 
in  common  with  many  others  of  your  authors,  treats  in  the 
most  unreserved  manner.*  It  was  to  be  wished  that  these 
horrible  maxims  had  never  found  their  way  out  of  hell ;  and 
that  the  devil,  who  is  their  original  author,  had  never  discov- 
ered men  sufficiently  devoted  to  his  will  to  publish  them 
among  Christians.f 

From  all  that  I  have  hitherto  said,  it  is  easy  to  judge  what 
a  contrariety  there  is  betwixt  the  licentiousness  of  your  opin- 
ions and  the  severity  of  civil  laws,  not  even  excepting  those 

*  Doubts  4th  and  10th. 

t  "  I  am  happy,"  says  Nicole,  in  a  note,  "  to  state  here  an  important 
fact,  which  confers  the  highest  honor  on  M.  Arnauld.  A  work  of  con- 
siderable size  was  sent  him  before  going  'o  press,  in  which  there  was  a 
collection  of  all  the  authorities,  from  Jesuit  writers,  prejudicial  to  the  life 
of  kings  and  princes.  That  celebrated  doctor  prevented  the  impression 
of  the  work,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  dangerous  for  the  life  of  mon- 
archs  and  for  the  honor  of  the  Jesuits  that  it  should  ever  see  the  light ; 
and,  in  fact,  the  work  was  never  printed.  Some  other  writer,  less  deli- 
cate than  M.  Arnauld,  has  published  something  similar,  in  a  work  en- 
titled Recueil  de  Pieces  concernant  V  Histoire  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus, 
par  le  P.  Jonivenci." 


TIE    CHURCH    ON   MTJRDEK.  287 

of  heathens.  How  much  more  apparent  must  the  contrast 
be  with  ecclesiastical  laws,  which  must  be  incomparably  more 
holy  than  any  other,  since  it  is  the  Church  alone  that  knows 
and  possesses  the  true  holiness !  Accordingly,  this  chaste 
spouse  of  the  Son  of  God,  who,  in  imitation  of  her  heavenly 
husband,  can  shed  her  own  blood  for  others,  but  never  the 
blood  of  others  for  herself,  entertains  a  horror  at  the  crime 
of  murder  altogether  singular,  and  proportioned  to  the  pecu- 
liar illumination  which  God  has  vouchsafed  to  bestow  upon 
her.  She  views  man,  not  simply  as  man,  but  as  the  image 
of  the  God  whom  she  adores.  She  feels  for  every  one  of  the 
race  a  holy  respect,  which  imparts  to  him,  in  her  eyes,  a 
venerable  character,  as  redeemed  by  an  infinite  price,  to  be 
made  the  temple  of  the  living  God.  And  therefore  she 
considers  the  death  of  a  man,  slain  without  the  authority  of 
his  Maker,  not  as  murder  only,  but  as  sacrilege,  by  which 
she  is  deprived  of  one  of  her  members  ;  for  whether  he  be  a 
believer  or  an  unbeliever,  she  uniformly  looks  upon  him,  if 
not  as  one,  at  least  as  capable  of  becoming  one,  of  her  own 
children.* 

Such,  fathers,  are  the  holy  reasons  which,  ever  since  the 
time  that  God  became  man  for  the  redemption  of  men,  have 
rendered  their  condition  an  object  of  such  consequence  to 
the  Church,  that  she  uniformly  punishes  the  crime  of  homi- 
cide, not  only  as  destructive  to  them,  but  as  one  of  the  gross- 
est outrages  that  can  possibly  be  perpetrated  against  God. 
In  proof  of  this  I  shall  quote  some  examples,  not  from  the 
idsa  that  all  the  severities  to  which  I  refer  ought  to  be  kept 
up  (for  I  am  aware  that  the  Church  may  alter  the  arrange- 


*  Surely  Pascal  is  here  describing  the  Church  of  Christ  as  she  ought, 
to  be,  and  not  the  Church  of  Rome  as  she  existed  in  1656,  at  the  very 
lirae  when  she  was  urging,  sanctioning,  and  exulting  in  the  bloody 
b;abarities  perpetrated  in  her  name  on  the  poor  Piedmontese ;  or  the 
same  Church  as  she  appeared  in  1572,  when  one  of  her  popes  ordered 
a  medal  to  be  struck  in  honor  of  the  Bartholomew  massacre,  with  the 
inscription,  "  Sfni^es  Hn^onot.arum — The  massacre  of  the  Hugunots  !" 
Of  what  Church,  if  not  the  Romish,  can  it  be  said  with  truth,  that,  "in 
her  was  found  the  blood  of  prophets,  and  of  saints,  and  of  all  that 
»~.*ire  sluiii  on  the  earth  ?" 


288 


PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 


merit  of  such  exterior  discipline),  but  to  demonstrate  her  im- 
mutable spirit  upon  this  subject.  The  penances  which  she 
ordains  for  murder  may  differ  according  to  the  diversity  of 
the  times,  but  no  change  of  time  can  ever  effect  an  alteration. 
of  the  horror  with  which  she  regards  tbe  crime  itself. 
-  For  a  long  time  the  Church  refused  to  be  reconciled,  till 
the  very  hour  of  death,  to  those  who  had  been  guilty  of  wil- 
ful murder,  as  those  are  to  whom  you  give  your  sanction. 
The  celebrated  Council  of  Ancyra  adjudged  them  to  penance 
during  their  whole  lifetime ;  and,  subsequently,  the  Church 
deemed  it  an  act  of  sufficient  indulgence  to  reduce  that  term 
to  a  great  many  years.  But,  still  more  effectually  to  deter 
Christians  from  wilful  murder,  she  has  visited  with  most 
severe  punishment  even  those  acts  which  have  been  com- 
mitted through  inadvertence,  as  may  be  seen  in  St.  Basil,  in 
St.  Gregory  of  Nyssen,  and  in  the  decretals  of  Popes  Zachary 
and  Alexander  II.  The  canons  quoted  by  Isaac,  bishop  of 
Langres  (tr.  2.  13),  "ordain  seven  years  of  penance  for  hav- 
ing killed  another  in  self-defence."  And  we  find  St.  Hilde- 
bert,  bishop  of  Mans,  replying  to  Yves  de  Chartres,  "  that  he 
was  right  in  interdicting  for  life  a  priest  who  had,  in  self- 
defence,  killed  a  robber  with  a  stone." 

After  this,  you  cannot  have  the  assurance  to  persist  in  say- 
ing that  your  decisions  are  agreeable  to  the  spirit  or  the 
canons  of  the  Church.  I  defy  you  to  show  one  of  them  that 
permits  us  to  kill  solely  in  defence  of  our  property  (for  I 
speak  not  of  cases  in  which  one  may  be  called  upon  to  defend 
his  life — se  suaqae  liberando) ;  your  own  authors,  and,  among 
the  rest,  Father  Lamy,  confess  that  no  such  canon  can  be 
found.  "  There  is  no  authority,"  he  says,  "  human  or  divine, 
which  gives  an  express  permission  to  kill  a  robber  who  makes 
no  resistance."  And  yet  this  is  what  you  permit  most  ex- 
pressly. I  defy  you  to  show  one  of  them  that  permits  us  to 
kill  in  vindication  of  honor,  for  a  buffet,  for  an  affront,  or  for 
a  slander.  I  defy  you  to  show  one  of  them  that  permits  the 
killing  of  witnesses,  judges,  or  magistrates,  whatever  injustice 
we  may  apprehend  from  them.  The  spirit  of  the  church  is 


. 

CHRISTIAN    LEGISLATION.  289 

diametrically  opposite  to  these  seditious  maxims,  opening  the 
door  to  insurrections  to  which  the  mob  is  naturally  prone 
enough  already.  She  has  invariably  taught  her  children  that 
they  ought  not  to  render  evil  for  evil ;  that  they  ought  to 
give  place  unto  wrath ;  to  make  no  resistance  to  violence ;  to 
give  unto  every  one  his  due — honor,  tribute,  submission  ;  to 
obey  magistrates  and  superiors,  even  though  they  should  be 
unjust,  because  we  ought  always  to  respect  in  them  the  power 
of  that  God  who  has  placed  them  over  us.  She  forbids  them, 
still  more  strongly  than  is  done  by  the  civil  law,  to  take  jus- 
tice into  their  own  hands  ;  and  it  is  in  her  spirit  that  Chris- 
tian kings  decline  doing  so  in  cases  of  high  treason,  and 
remit  the  criminals  charged  with  this  grave  offence  into  the 
hands  of  the  judges,  that  they  may  be  punished  according 
to  the  laws  and  the  forms  of  justice,  which  in  this  matter 
exhibit  a  contrast  to  your  mode  of  management,  so  striking 
and  complete  that  it  may  well  make  you  blush  for  shame. 

As  my  discourse  has  taken  this  turn,  I  beg  you  to  follow 
the  comparison  which  I  shall  now  draw  between  the  style 
in  which  you  would  dispose  of  your  enemies,  and  that  in 
which  the  judges  of  the  land  dispose  of  criminals.  Every- 
body knows,  fathers,  that  no  private  individual  has  a  right  to 
demand  the  death  of  another  individual  ;  and  that  though  a 
man  should  have  ruined  us,  maimed  our  body,  burnt  our 
house,  murdered  our  father,  and  was  prepared,  moreover,  to 
assassinate  ourselves,  or  ruin  our  character,  our  private  de- 
mand for  the  death  of  that  person  would  not  be  listened  to  in 
a  court  of  justice.  Public  officers  have  been  appointed  for 
that  purpose,  who  make  the  demand  in  the  name  of  the  king, 
or  rather,  I  would  say,  in  the  name  of  God.  Now,  do  you 
conceive,  fathers,  that  Christian  legislators  have  established 
this  regulation  out  of  mere  show  and  grimace  ?  Is  it  not 
evident  that  their  object  was  to  harmonize  the  laws  of  the 
state  with  those  of  the  Church,  and  thus  prevent  the  external 
practice  of  justice  from  clashing  with  the  sentiments  which 
all  Christians  are  bound  to  cherish  in  their  hearts  ?  It  is 
easy  to  see  how  this,  which  forms  the  commencement  of  a 
13 


290  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

civil  process,  must  stagger  you ;  its  subsequent  procedure 
absolutely  overwbelms  you. 

Suppose,  tben,  fathers,  tbat  these  official  persons  have  de- 
manded the  death  of  the  man  who  has  committed  all  the 
above  mentioned  crimes,  what  is  to  be  done  next  ?  "Will 
they  instantly  plunge  a  dagger  in  his  breast  ?  No,  fathers  ; 
the  life  of  man  is  loo  important  to  be  thus  disposed  of;  they 
go  to  work  with  more  decency ;  the  laws  have  committed  it, 
not  to  all  sorts  of  persons,  but  exclusively  to  the  judges, 
whose  probity  and  competency  have  been  duly  tried.  And 
is  one  judge  sufficient  to  condemn  a  man -to  death  ?  No  ;  it 
requires  seven  at  the  very  least ;  and  of  these  seven  there 
must  not  be  one  who  has  been  injured  by  the  criminal,  lest 
his  judgment  should  be  warped  or  corrupted  by  passion. 
You  are  aware  also,  fathers,  that  the  more  effectually  to  secure 
the  purity  of  their  minds,  they  devote  the  hours  of  the  morn- 
ing to  these  functions.  Such  is  the  care  taken  to  prepare 
them  for  the  solemn  action  of  devoting  a  fellow-creature  to 
death ;  in  performing  which  they  occupy  the  place  of  God, 
whose  ministers  they  are,  appointed  to  condemn  such  only  as 
have  incurred  his  condemnation. 

For  the  same  reason,  to  act  as  faithful  administrators  of 
the  divine  power  of  taking  away  human  life,  they  are  bound 
to  form  their  judgment  solely  according  to  the  depositions 
of  the  witnesses,  and  according  to  all  the  other  forms  pre- 
scribed to  them  ;  after  which  they  can  pronounce  conscien- 
tiously only  according  to  law,  and  can  judge  worthy  of  death 
those  only  whom  the  law  condemns  to  that  penalty.  And 
then,  fathers,  if  the  command  of  God  obliges  them  to  deliver 
over  to  punishment  the  bodies  of  the  unhappy  culprits,  the 
same  divine  statute  binds  them  to  look  after  the  interests  of 
their  guilty  souls,  and  binds  them  the  more  to'this  just  be- 
cause they  are  guilty ;  so  that  they  are  not  delivered  up  to 
execution  till  after  they  have  been  afforded  the  means  of  pro- 
viding for  their  consciences.*  All  this  is  quite  fair  and  in- 

*  Providing  for  their  consciences — that  is,  for  the  relief  of  conscience, 
by  confessing  to  a  priest,  and  receiving  absolution, 


JESUITICAL   LEGISLATION.  291 

nocent ;  and  yet,  such  is  the  abhorrence  of  the  Church  to 
blood,  that  she  judges  those  to  be  incapable  of  ministering  at 
her  altars  who  have  borne  any  share  in  passing  or  executing 
a  sentence  of  death,  accompanied  though  it  be  with  these 
religious  circumstances;  from  which  we  may  easily  conceive 
what  idea  the  Church  entertains  of  murder. 

Such,  then,  being  the  manner  in  which  human  life  is  dis- 
posed of  by  the  legal  forms  of  justice,  let  us  now  see  how 
you  dispose  of  it.  According  to  your  modern  system  of  leg- 
islation, there  is  but  one  judge,  and  that  judge  is  no  other 
than  the  offended  party.  He  is  at  once  the  judge,  the  party, 
and  the  executioner.  He  himself  demands  from  himself  the 
death  of  his  enemy ;  he  condemns  him,  he  executes  him  on 
the  spot ;  and,  without  the  least  respect  either  for  t^e  soul  or 
the  body  of  his  brother,  he  murders  and  damns  him  for 
whom  Jesus  Christ  died  ;  and  all  this  for  the  sake  of  avoid- 
ing a  blow  on  the  cheek,  or  a  slander,  or  an  offensive  word, 
or  some  other  offence  of  a  similar  nature,  for  which,  if  a  mng- 
istrate,  in  the  exercise  of  legitimate  authority,  were  condemn- 
ing any  to  die,  he  would  himself  be  impeached ;  for,  in  such 
cases,  the  laws  are  very  far  indeed  from  condemning  any  to 
death.  In  one  word,  to  crown  the  whole  of  this  extrava- 
gance, the  person  who  kills  his  neighbor  in  this  style,  without 
authority,  and  in  the  face  of  all  law,  contracts  no  sin  and 
commits  no  disorder,  though  he  should  be  religious,  and  even 
a  priest !  Where  are  we,  fathers  ?  Are  these  really  relig- 
ious, and  priests,  who  talk  in  this  manner  ?  Are  they  Chris- 
tians ?  are  they  Turks  ?  are  they  men  ?  or  are  they  demons  ? 
And  are  these  "  the  mysteries  revealed  by  the  Lamb  to  his 
Society  ?"  or  are  they  not  rather  abominations  suggested  by 
the  Dragon  to  those  who  take  part  with  him  ? 

To  come  to  the  point  with  you,  fathers,  whom  do  you  wish 
to  be  taken  for  ? — for  the  children  of  the  Gospel,  or  for  the 
enemies  of  the  Gospel  ?  .You  must  be  ranged  either  on  the 
one  side  or  on  the  other ;  for  there  is  no  medium  here.  "  He 
that  is  not  with  Jesus  Christ  is  against  him."  Into  these  two 
two  classes  ;;I1  mankind  are  divided.  There  arc,  according  to 


292  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

St.  'Augustine,  two  peoples  and  two  worlds,  scattered  abroad 
over  the  earth.  There  is  the  world  of  the  children  of  God, 
•who  form  one  body,  of  which  Jesus  Christ  is  the  king  and 
the  head  :  and  there  is  the  world  at  enmity  with  God,  of 
which  the  devil  is  the  king  and  the  head.  Hence  Jesus 
Christ  is  called  the  King  and  God  of  the  world,  because  he 
has  everywhere  his  subjects  and  worshippers  ;  and  hence  the 
devil  is  also  termed  in  Scripture  the  prince  of  this  world,  and 
the  god  of  this  world,  because  he  has  everywhere  his  agents 
and  his  slaves.  Jesus  Christ  has  imposed  upon  the  Church, 
which  is  his  empire,  such  laws  as  he,  in  his  eternal  wisdom, 
was  pleased  to  ordain ;  and  the  devil  has  imposed  on  the 
world,  which  is  his  kingdom,  such  laws  as  he  chose  to  estab- 
lish. Jesus  Christ  has  associated  honor  with  suffering ;  the 
devil  with  not  suffering.  Jesus  Christ  has  told  those  who 
are  smitten  on  the  one  cheek  to  turn  the  other  also ;  and  the 
devil  has  told  those  who  are  threatened  with  a  buffet  to  kill 
the  man  that  would  do  them  such  an  injury.  Jesus  Christ 
pronounces  those  happy  who  share  in  his  reproach ;  and  the 
devil  declares  those  to  be  unhappy  who  lie  under  ignominy. 
Jesus  Christ  says,  Woe  unto  you  when  men  shall  speak  well 
of  you !  and  the  devil  says,  Woe  unto  those  of  whom  the 
world  does  not  speak  with  esteem ! 

Judge  then,  fathers,  to  which  of  these  kingdoms  you  be- 
long. You  have  heard  the  language  of  the  city  of  peace, 
the  mystical  Jerusalem  ;  and  you  have  heard  the  language  of 
the  city  of  confusion,  which  Scripture  terms  "  the  spiritual 
Sodom."  Which  of  these  two  languages  do  you  understand  ? 
which  of  them  do  you  speak  ?  Those  who  are  on  the  side 
of  Jesus  Christ  have,  as  St.  Paul  teaches  us,  the  same  mind 
which  was  also  in  him ;  and  those  who  are  the  children  of 
the  devil — ex  patre  didbolo — who  has  been  a  murderer  from 
the  beginning,  according  to  the  saying  of  Jesus  Christ,  follow 
the  maxims  of  the  devil.  Let  us  hear,  therefore,  the  lan- 
guage of  your -school.  I  put  this  question  to  your  doctors  : 
When  a  person  has  given  me  a  blow  on  the  cheek,  ought  I 
rather  to  submit  to  the  injury  than  kill  the  offender?  or  may  I 


JESUITICAL    LEGISLATION.  293 

not  kill  the  man  in  order  to  escape  the  affront  ?  Kill  him  by 
all  means — it  is  quite  lawful !  exclaim,  in  one  breath,  Lessius, 
Molina,  Escobar,  Eeginald,  Filiutius,  Baldelle,  and  other  Jesu- 
its. Is  that  the  language  of  Jesus  Christ?  One  question 
more  :  Would  I  lose  my  honor  by  tolerating  a  box  on  the 
ear,  without  killing  the  person  that  gave  it?  "  Can  there  be 
a  doubt,"  cries  Escobar,  "  that  so  long  as  a  man  suffers  an- 
other to  live  who  has  given  him  a  buffet,  that  man  remains 
without  honor  ?"  Yes,  fathers,  without  that  honor  which 
the  devil  transfuses,  from  his  own  proud  spirit  into  that  of 
his  proud  children.  This  is  the  honor  which  has  ever  been 
the  idol  of  worldly-minded  men.  For  the  preservation  of 
this  false  glory,  of  which  the  god  of  this  world  is  the  appro- 
priate dispenser,  they  sacrifice  their  lives  by  yielding  to  the 
madness  of  duelling;  their  honor,  by  exposing  themselves  to 
ignominious  punishments  ;  and  their  salvation,  by  involving 
themselves  in  the  peril  of  damnation — a  peril  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  canons  of  the  Church,  deprives  them  even  of 
Christian  burial.  We  have  reason  to  thank  God,  however, 
for  having  enlightened  the  mind  of  our  monarch  with  ideas 
much  purer  than  those  of  your  theology.  His  edicts  bearing 
so  severely  on  this  subject,  have  not  made  duelling  a  crime — 
they  only  punish  the  crime  which  is  inseparable  from  duel- 
ling. He  has  checked,  by  the  dread  of  his  rigid  justice,  those 
who  were  not  restrained  by  the  fear  of  the  justice  of  God ; 
and  his  piety  has  taught  him  that  the  honor  of  Christians 
consists  in  their  observance  of  the  mandates  of  Heaven  and 
the  rules  of  Christianity,  and  not  in  the  pursuit  of  that  phan- 
tom which,  airy  and  unsubstantial  as  it  is,  you  hold  to  be  a 
legitimate  apology  for  murder.  Your  murderous  decisions 
being  thus  universally  detested,  it  is  highly  advisable  that 
you  should  now  change  your  sentiments,  if  not  from  religious 
principle,  at  least  from  motives  of  policy.  Prevent,  fathers, 
by  a  spontaneous  condemnation  of  these  inhuman  dogmas, 
the  melancholy  consequences  which  may  result  from  them, 
and  for  which  you  will  be  responsible.  And  to  impress  your 
minds  with  a  deeper  horror  at  homicide,  remember  that  the 


294  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

first  crime  of  fallen  man  was  a  murder,  committed  on  the 
person  of  the  first  holy  man ;  that  the  greatest  crime  was  a 
murder,  perpetrated  on  the  person  of  the  King  of  saints ; 
and  that  of  all  crimes,  murder  is  the  only  one  which  involves 
in  a  common  destruction  the  Church  and  the  state,  nature 
and  religion. 

I  have  just  seen  the  answer  of  your  apologist  to  my  Thir- 
teenth Letter ;  but  if  he  has  nothing  better  to  produce  in  the 
shape  of  a  reply  to  that  letter,  which  obviates  the  greater 
part  of  his  objections,  he  will  not  deserve  a  rejoinder.  I  am 
sorry  to  see  him  perpetually  digressing  from  his  subject,  to 
indulge  in  rancorous  abuse  both  of  the  living  and  the  dead. 
But,  in  order  to  gain  some  credit  to  the  stories  with  which  you 
have  furnished  him,  you  should  not  have  made  him  publicly 
disavow  a  fact  so  notorious  as  that  of  the  buffet  of  Com- 
piegne.*  Certain  it  is,  fathers,  from  the  deposition  of  the 
injured  party,  that  he  received  upon  his  cheek  a  blow  from 
the  hand  of  a  Jesuit ;  and  all  that  your  friends  have  been 
able  to  do  for  you  has  been  to  raise  a  doubt  whether  he  re- 
ceived the  blow  with  the  back  or  the  palm  of  the  hand,  and 
to  discuss  the  question  whether  a  stroke  on  the  cheek  with 
the  back  of  the  hand  can  be  properly  denominated  a  buffet. 
I  know  not  to  what  tribunal  it  belongs  to  decide  this  point ; 
but  shall  content  myself,  in  the  mean  time,  with  believing  that 
it  was,  to  say  the  very  least,  a  probable  buffet.  This  gets  me 
off  with  a  saf  3  conscience. 

*  See  Letter  xiii.,  p.  2G4. 


LETTER  XV.* 

TO  THE   REVEREND   FATHERS,   THE  JESUITS. 

SHOWING  THAT  THE  JESUITS  FIRST  EXCLUDE  CALUMNY  FROM  THEIR 
CATALOGUE  OF  CRIMES,  AND  THEN  EMPLOY  IT  IN  DENOUNCING 
THEIR  OFFONENTS. 

November  25,  1056. 

REVEREND  FATHERS, — As  your  scurrilities  are  daily  in- 
creasing, and  as  you  are  employing  them  in  the  merciless 
abuse  of  all  pious  persons  opposed  to  your  errors,  I  feel  my- 
self obliged,  for  their  sake  and  that  of  the  Church,  to  bring 
out  that  grand  secret  of  your  policy,  which  I  promised  to 
disclose  some  time  ago,  in  order  that  all  may  know,  through 
means  of  your  own  maxims,  what  degree  of  credit  is  due  to 
your  calumnious  accusations. 

I  am  aware  that  those  who  are  not  very  well  acquainted 
with  you,  are  at  a  great  Joss  what  to  think  on  this  subject,  as 
they  find  themselves  under  the  painful  necessity,  either  of 
believing  the  incredible  crimes  with  which  you  charge  your 
opponents,  or  (what  is  equally  incredible)  of  setting  you 
down  as  slanderers.  "  Indeed  !"  they  exclaim,  "  were  these 
things  not  true,  would  clergymen  publish  them  to  the  world 
— would  they  debauch  their  consciences  and  damn  themselves 
by  venting  such  libels  ?"  Such  is  their  way  of  reasoning, 
and  thus  it  is  th.at  the  palpable  proof 'of  your  falsifications 
coming  into  collision  with  their  opinion  of  your  honesty,  their 
minds  hang  in  a  state  of  suspense  between  the  evidence  of 
truth  which  they,  cannot  gainsay,  and  the  demands  of  charity 
which  they  would  not  violate.  It  follows,  that  since  their 

*  Pascal  was  assisted  by  M.  Arnauld  in  the  preparation  of  this  letter. 
(Nicole,  iv.  162.) 


296  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

high  esteem  for  you  is  the  only  thing  that  prevents  them 
from  discrediting  your  calumnies,  if  we  can  succeed  in  con- 
vincing them  that  you  have  quite  a  different  idea  of  calumny 
from  that  which  they  suppose  you  to  have,  and  that  you  act- 
ually believe  that  in  blackening  and  defaming  your  adver- 
saries you  are  working  out  your  own  salvation,  there  can  be 
little  question  that  the  weight  of  truth  will  determine  them 
immediately  to  pay  no  regard  to  your  accusations.  This, 
fathers,  will  be  the  subject  of  the  present  letter. 

My  design  is,  not  simply  to  show  that  your  writings  are 
full  of  calumnies :  I  mean  to  go  a  step  beyond  this.  It  is 
quite  possible  for  a  person  to  say  a  number  of  false  things 
believing  them  to  be  true ;  but  the  character  of  a  liar  im- 
plies the  intention  to  tell  lies.  Now  I  undertake  to  prove, 
fathers,  that  it  is  your  deliberate  intention  to  tell  lies,  and 
that  it  is  both  knowingly  and  purposely  that  you  load  your 
opponents  with  crimes  of  which  you  know  them  to  be  inn«- 
cent,  because  you  believe  that  you  may  do  so  without  falling 
from  a  state  of  grace.  Though  you  doubtless  know  this 
point  of  your  morality  as  well  as  I  do,  this  need  not  prevent 
me  from  telling  you  about  it ;  which  I  shall  do,  were  it  for 
no  other  purpose  than  to  convince  all  men  of  its  existence, 
by  showing  them  that  I  can  maintain  it  to  your  face,  while 
you  cannot  have  the  assurance  to  disavow  it,  without  confirm- 
ing, by  that  very  disavowment,  the  charge  which  I  bring 
againsi  you. 

The  doctrine  to  which  I  allude  is  so  common  in  your 
schools,  that  you  have  maintained  it  not  only  in  your  books, 
but,  such  is  your  assurance,  even  in  your  public  theses ;  as, 
for  example,  in  those  delivered  at  Louvain  in  the  year  1645, 
where  it  occurs  in  the  following  terms :  "  What  is  it  but  a 
venial  sin  to  calumniate  and  forge  false  accusations  to  ruin 
the  credit  of  those  who  speak  evil  of  us  ?"*  So  settled  is 
this  point  among  you,  that  if  any  one  dare  to  oppose  it,  you 
treat  him  as  a  blockhead  and  a  hare-brained  idiot.  Such 

*  Quidni  non  nisi  veniale  sit,  detrahentes  autoritatera  magnam,  tibi 
noxiara,  falso  crimine  elidere  1 


ON    CALUMNT.  297 

was  the  way  in  which  you  treated  Father  Quiroga,  the  Ger- 
man Capuchin,  when  he  was  so  unfortunate  as  to  impugn 
the  doctrine.  The  poor  man  was  instantly  attacked  by 
Dicastille,  one  of  your  fraternity;  and  the  following  is  a 
specimen  of  the  manner  in  which  he  manages  the  dispute : 
"  A  certain  rueful-visaged,  bare-footed,  cowled  friar — cucul- 
latus  gymnopoda — whom  I  do  not  choose  to  name,  had  the 
boldness  to  denounce  this  opinion,  among  some  women  and 
ignorant  people,  and  to  allege  that  it  was  scandalous  and 
pernicious  against  all  good  manners,  hostile  to  the  peace  of 
states  and  societies,  and,  in  short,  contrary  to  the  judgment 
not  only  of  all  Catholic  doctors,  but  of  all  true  Catholics. 
But  in  opposition  to  him  I  maintained,  as  I  do  still,  that  cal- 
umny, when  employed  against  a  calumniator,  though  it  should 
be  a  falsehood,  is  not  a  mortal  sin,  either  against  justice  or 
charity :  and  to  prove  the  point,  I  referred  him  to  the  whole 
body  of  our  fathers,  and  to  whole  universities,  exclusively 
composed  of  them,  whom  I  had  consulted  on  the  subject ; 
and  among  others  the  reverend  Father  John  Gans,  confessor 
to  the  emperor;  the  reverend  Father  Daniel  Bastele,  con- 
fessor to  the  archduke  Leopold  ;  Father  Henri,  who  was 
preceptor  to  these  two  princes  ;  all  the  public  and  ordinary 
professors  of  the  university  of  Vienna"  (wholly  composed  of 
Jesuits) ;  "  all  the  professors  of  the  university  of  Gratz"  (all 
Jesuits) ;  "  all  the  professors  of  the  university  of  Prague" 
(where  Jesuits  are  the  masters)  ; — "  from  all  of  whom  I  have 
in  my  possession  approbations  of  my  opinions,  written  and 
signed  with  their  own  hands ;  besides  having  on  my  side  the 
reverend  Father  Panalossa,  a  Jesuit,  preacher  to  the  emperor 
and  the  king  of  Spain  ;  Father  Pilliceroli,  a  Jesuit,  and  many 
others,  who  had  all  judged  this  opinion  to  be  probable,  be- 
fore our  dispute  began."*  You  perceive,  fathers,  that  there 
are  few  of  your  opinions  which  you  have  been  at  more  pains 
to  establish  than  the  present,  as  indeed  there  were  few  of 
them  of  which  you  stood  more  in  need.  For  this  reason, 
doubtless,  you  have  authenticated  it  so  well,  that  the  casuists 

*  Dicastillus,  De  Just.,  1.  2,  tr.  2,  disp.  12.  n.  404. 
13* 


298  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

appeal  to  it  as  an  indubitable  principle.  "There  can  be  no 
doubt,"  says  Caramuel,  "  that  it  is  a  probable  opinion  that 
we  contract  no  mortal  sin  by  calumniating  another,  in  order 
to  preserve  our  own  reputation.  For  it  is  maintained  by 
more  than  twenty  grave  doctors,  by  Gaspard  Hurtado,  and 
Dicastille,  Jesuits,  &c. ;  so  that,  were  this  doctrine  not  prob- 
able, it  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  one  such  in  the  whole 
compass  of  theology." 

Wretched  indeed  must  that  theology  be,  and  rotten  to 
the  very  core,  which,  unless  it  has  been  decided  to  be  safe  in 
conscience  to  defame  our  neighbor's  character  to  preserve 
our  own,  can  hardly  boast  of  a  safe  decision  on  any  other 
point !  How  natural  is  it,  fathers,  that  those  who  hold  this 
principle  should  occasionally  put  it  in  practice  !  The  cor- 
rupt propensity  of  mankind  leans  so  strongly  in  that  direc- 
tion of  itself,  that  the  obstacle  of  conscience  once  being  re- 
moved, it  would  be  folly  to  suppose  that  it  will  not  burst 
forth  with  all  its  native  impetuosity.  If  you  desire  an  ex- 
ample of  this,  Caramuel  will  furnish  you  with  one  that  oc- 
curs in  the  same  passage :  "  This  maxim  of  Father  Dicastille," 
he  says,  "  having  been  communicated  by  a  German  countess 
to  the  daughters  of  the  empress,  the  belief  thus  impressed 
on  their  minds  that  calumny  was  only  a  venial  sin,  gave  rise 
in  the  course  of  a  few  days  to  such  an  immense  number  of 
false  and  scandalous  tales,  that  the  whole  court  was  thrown 
into  a  flame  and  filled  with  alarm.  It  is  easy,  indeed,  to 
conceive  what  a  fine  use  these  ladies  would  make  of  the  new 
light  they  had  acquired.  Matters  proceeded  to  such  a  length, 
that  it  was  found  necessary  to  call  in  the  assistance  of  a  wor- 
thy Capuchin  friar,  a  man  of  exemplary  life,  called  Father 
Quiroga"  (the  very  man  whom  Dicastille  rails  at  so  bitterly), 
"  who  assured  them  that  the  maxim  was  most  pernicious, 
especially  among  women,  and  was  at  the  greatest  pains  to 
prevail  upon  the  empress  to  abolish  the  practice  of  it  en- 
tirely." We  have  no  reason,  therefore,  to  be  surprised  at  the 
bad  effects  of  this  doctrine;  on  the  contrary,  the  wonder 
would  be,  if  it  had  failed  to  produce  them.  Self-love  is  al- 


ON    CALUMNY.  299 

•ways  ready  enough  to  whisper  in  our  ear,  when  we  are  at- 
tacked, that  we  suffer  wrongfully  ;  and  more  particularly  in 
your  case,  fathers,  whom  vanity  has  blinded  so  egregiously 
as  to  make  you  believe  that  to  wound  the  honor  of  your  So- 
ciety, is  to  wound  that  of  the  Church.  There  would  have 
been  good  ground  to  look  on  it  as  something  miraculous,  if 
you  had  not  reduced  this  maxim  to  practice.  Those  Avho 
do  not  know  you  are  ready  to  say,  How  could  these  good 
fathers  slander  their  enemies,  when  they  cannot  do  so  but 
at  the  expense  of  their  own  salvation  ?  But  if  they  knew 
you  better,  the  question  would  be,  How  could  these  good 
fathers  forego  the  advantage  of  decrying  their  enemies,  when 
they  have  it  in  their  power  to  do  so  without  hazarding  their 
salvation?  Let  none,  therefore,  henceforth  be  surprised  to 
find  the  Jesuits  calumniators ;  they  can  exercise  this  vocation 
with  a  safe  conscience  ;  there  is  no  obstacle  in  heaven  or  on 
earth  to  prevent  them.  In  virtue  of  the  credit  they  have 
acquired  in  the  world,  they  can  practise  defamation  without 
dreading  the  justice  of  mortals  ;  and,  on  the  strength  of  their 
self- assumed  authority  in  matters  of  conscience,  they  have 
invented  maxims  for  enabling  them  to  do  it  without  any  fear 
of  the  justice  of  God. 

This,  fathers,  is  the  fertile  source  of  your  base  slanders. 
On  this  principle  was  Father  Brisacier  led  to  scatter  his  cal- 
umnies about  him,  with  such  zeal  as  to  draw  down  on  his 
head  the  censure  of  the  late  Archbishop  of  Paris.  Actuated 
by  the  same  motives,  Father  D'Anjou  launched  his  invec- 
tives from  the  pulpit  of  the  Chjirch  of  St.  Benedict  in  Paris, 
on  the  8th  of  March,  1655,  against  those  honorable  gentle- 
men who  were  intrusted  with  the  charitable  funds  raised  for 
the  poor  of  Picardy  and  Champagne,  to  which  they  them- 
selves had  largely  contributed  ;  and,  uttering  a  base  falsehood, 
calculated  (if  your  slanders  had  been  considered  worthy  of 
any  credit)  to  dry  up  the  stream  of  that  charily,  he  had  the- 
assurance  to  say,  "  that  he  knew,  from  good  'authority,  that 
certain  persons  had  diverted  that  money  from  its  proper  use, 
to  employ  it  against  the  Church  and  the  State ;"  a  calumny 


300  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

•which  obliged  the  curate  of  the  parish,  who  is  a  doctor  of 
the  Sorbonne,  to  mount  the  pulpit  the  very  next  day,  in 
order  to  give  it  the  lie  direct.  To  the  same  source  must  be 
traced  the  conduct  of  your  Father  Crasset,  who  preached 
calumny  at  such  a  furious  rate  in  Orleans  that  the  archbishop 
of  that  place  was  under  the  necessity  of  interdicting  him  as 
a  public  slanderer.  In  his  mandate,  dated  the  9th  of  Sep- 
tember last,  his  lordship  declares,  "That  whereas  he  had 
been  informed  that  Brother  Jean  Crasset,  priest  of  the  Soci- 
ety of  Jesus,  had  delivered  from  the  pulpit  a  discourse  filled 
•with  falsehoods  and  calumnies  against  the  ecclesiastics  of  this 
city,  falsely  and  maliciously  charging  them  with  maintaining 
impious  and  heretical  propositions,  such  as,  That  the  com- 
mandments of  God  are  impracticable ;  that  internal  grace  is 
irresistible ;  that  Jesus  Christ  did  not  die  for  all  men  ;  and 
others  of  a  similar  kind,  condemned  by  Innocent  X. :  he 
therefore  hereby  interdicts  the  aforesaid  Crasset  from  preach- 
ing in  his  diocese,  and  forbids  all  his  people  to  hear  him,  on 
pain  of  mortal  disobedience."  The  'above,  fathers,  is  your 
ordinary  accusation,  and  generally  among  the  first  that  you 
bring  against  all  whom  it  is  your  interest  to  denounce.  And 
although  you  should  find  it  as  impossible  to  substantiate  the 
charge  against  any  of  them,  as  Father  Crasset  did  in  the 
case  of  the  clergy  of  Orleans,  your  peace  of  conscience  will 
not  be  in  the  least  disturbed  on  that  account ;  for  you  be- 
lieve that  this  mode  of  calumniating  your  adversaries  is 
permitted  you  with  such  certainty,  that  you  have  no  scruple 
to  avow  it  in  the  most  public  manner,  and  in  the  face  of 
whole  city. 

A  remarkable  proof  of  this  may  be  seen  in  the  dispute  you 
had  with  M.  Puys,  curate  of  St.  Nisier  at  Lyons ;  and  the 
story  exhibits  so  complete  an  illustration  of  your  spirit,  that 
I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  relating  some  of  its  leading  circum- 
stances. You  know,  fathers,  that,  in  the  year  1649,  M. 
Puys  translated  into  French  an  excellent  book,  written  by 
another  Capuchin  friar,  "  On  the  duty  which  Christians  owe 
to  their  own  parishes,  against  those  that  would  lead  them 


M.  PUTS  AND  FATHER  ALBT.  301 

away  from  them,"  without  using  a  single  invective,  or  point- 
ing to  any  monk  or  any  order  of  monks  m  particular.  Your 
fathers,  however,  were  pleased  to  put  the  cap  on  their  own 
heads;  and  witho'ut  any  respect  to  an  aged  pastor,  a  judge 
in  the  Primacy  of  France,  and  a  man  who  was  held  in  the 
highest  esteem  by  the  whole  city,  Father  Alby  wrote  a  fu- 
rious tract  against  him,  which  you  sold  in  your  own  church 
upon  Assumption-day ;  in  which  book,  among  other  various 
charges,  he  accused  him  of  having  "  made  himself  scandalous 
by  his  gallantries,"  described  him  as  suspected  of  having 
no  religion,  as  a  heretic,  excommunicated,  and,  in  short, 
worthy  of  the  stake.  To  this  M.  Puys  made  a  reply  ;  and 
Father  Alby,  in  a  second  publication,  supported  his  former 
allegations.  Now,  fathers,  is  it  not  a  clear  point,  either  that 
you  were  calumniators,  or  that  you  believed  all  that  you 
Alleged  against  that  worthy  priest  to  be  true ;  and  that,  on 
this  latter  assumption,  it  became  you  to  see  him  purified 
from  all  these  abominations  before  judging  him  worthy  of 
your  friendship  ?  Let  us  see,  then,  what  happened  at  the 
accommodation  of  the  dispute,  which  took  place  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  great  number  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the 
town,  whose  names  will  be  found  at  the  foot  of  the  page,* 
exactly  as  they  are  set  down  in  the  instrument  drawn  up  on 
the  25th  of  September,  1650.  Before  all  these  witnesses 
M.  Puys  made  a  declaration,  which  was  neither  more  nor 
less  than  this:  "That  what  he  had  written  was  not  directed 
against  the  fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  ;  that  he  had  spo- 
ken in  general  of  those  who  alienated  the  faithful  from  their 
parishes,  without  meaning  by  that  to  attack  the  Society ; 
and  that  so  far  from  having  such  an  intention,  the  Society 

*  M.  De  Ville.  Vicar-General  of  M..  the  Cardinal  of  Lyons ;  M. 
Scarron.  Canon  and  Curate  of  St.  Paul  ;  M.  Margat  Chanter :  MM. 
Bouvand.  Seve.  Aubert,  and  Dervien.  Canons  of  St.  Nisier;  M.  de  Gue, 
President  of  the  Treasurers  of  France :  M.  Groslier.  Provost  of  the  Mer- 
chants; M.  de  Flochre  President  and  Lieutenant-Genera  1;  MM.  De 
Boissart  De  St.  Ronrain.  and  De  Bartoly  gentlemen ;  M.  Bourgeois, 
the  King's  First  Advocate  in  the  Court  of  the  Treasurers  of  France  ;  MM. 
De  Cotton,  father  and  son;  and  M.  Boniel;  who  have  all  signed  the 
original  copy  of  the  Declaration,  along  with  M.  Puys  and  Father  Alby. 


302  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

was  the  object  of  his  esteem  and  affection."  By  virtue  of 
these  words  alone,  without  either  retractation  or  absolution,  M. 
Puys  recovered,  all  at  once,  from  his  apostasy,  his  scandals, 
and  his  excommunication ;  and  Father  Alby  immediately 
thereafter  addressed  him  in  the  following  express  terms  : 
"  Sir,  it  was  in  consequence  of  my  believing  that  you  meant 
to  attack  the  Society  to  which  I  have  the  honor  to  belong, 
that  I  was  induced  to  take  up  the  pen  in  its  defence  ;  and  I 
considered  that  the  mode  of  reply  which  I  adopted  was  such 
as  I  was  permitted  to  employ.  But,  on  a  better  understand- 
ing of  your  intention,  I  am  now  free  to  declare,  that  there  is 
nothing  in  your  work  to  prevent  me  from  regarding  you  as  a 
man  of  genius,  enlightened  in  judgment,  profound  and  ortho- 
dox in  doctrine,  and  irreproachable  in  manners  ;  in  one  word, 
as  a  pastor  worthy  of  your  Church.  It  is  with  much  pleas- 
ure that  I  make  this  declaration,  and  I  beg  these  gentlemen 
to  remember  what  I  have  now  said." 

They  do  remember  it,  fathers ;  and,  allow  me  to  add,  they 
were  more  scandalized  by  the  reconciliation  than  by  the 
quarrel.  For  who  can  fail  to  admire  this  speech  of  Father 
Alby  ?  He  does  not  say  that  he  retracts,  in  consequence  of 
having  learnt  that  a  change  had  taken  place  in  the  faith  and 
manners  of  M.  Puys,  but  solely  because,  having  understood 
that  lie  had  no  intention  of  attacking  your  Society,  there  was 
nothing  further  to  prevent  him  from  regarding  the  author  as 
a  good  Catholic.  He  did  not  then  believe  him  to  be  actually 
a  heretic  !  And  yet,  after  having,  contrary  to  his  conviction, 
accused  him  of  this  crime,  he  will  not  acknowledge  he  was 
in  the  wrong,  but  has  the  hardihood  to  say,  that  he  consid- 
ered the  method  he  adopted  to  be  "such  as  he  was pe rmitted 
to  employ !" 

What  can  you  possibly  mean,  fathers,  by  so  publicly  avow- 
ing the  fact,  that  you  measure  the  .faith  and  the  virtue  of 
men  only  by  the  sentiments  they  entertain  towards  your  So- 
ciety? Had  you  no  apprehension  of  making  yourselves 
pass,  by  your  own  acknowledgment,  as  a  band  of  swindlers 
and  slanderers  ?  What,  fathers  !  must  the  same  individual, 


AN    ODD   HERESY.  303 

without  undergoing  any  personal  transformation,  but  simply 
according  as  you  judge  him  to  have  honored  or  assailed  your 
community,  be  "pious"  or  "impious,"  "irreproachable"  or 
"excommunicated,"  "a  pastor  worthy  of  the  Church"  or 
"  worthy  of  the  stake  ;"  in  short,  "  a  Catholic"  or  "  a  here- 
tic ?"  To  attack  your  Society  and  to  be  a  heretic,  are,  there- 
fore, in  your  language,  convertible  terms !  An  odd  sort  of 
heresy  this,  fathers !  And  so  it  would  appear,  that  when 
we  see  many  good  Catholics  branded,  in  your  writings,  by 
the  name  of  heretics,  it  means  nothing  more  than  that  you 
think  they  attack  you !  It  is  well,  fathers,  that  we  under- 
stand this  strange  dialect,  according  to  which  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  I  must  be  a  great  heretic.  It  is  in  this  sense, 
then,  that  you  so  often  favor  me  with  this  appellation! 
Your  sole  reason  for  cutting  me  off  from  the  Church  is,  be- 
cause you  conceive  that  my  letters  have  done  you  harm  :  and, 
accordingly,  all  that  I  have  to  do,  in  order  to  become  a  good 
Catholic,  is  either  to  approve  of  your  extravagant  morality, 
or  to  convince  you  that  my  sole  aim  in  exposing  it  has  been 
your  advantage.  The  former  I  could  not  do  without  renoun- 
cing every  sentiment  of  piety  that  I  ever  possessed ;  and  the 
latter  you  will  be  slow  to  acknowledge  till  you  are  well  cured 
of  your  errors.  Thus  am  I  involved  in  heresy,  after  a  very 
singular  fashion  ;  for,  the  purity  of  my  faith  being  of  no  avail 
for  my  exculpation,  I  have  no  means  of  escaping  from  the 
charge,  except  either  by  turning  traitor  to  my  own  conscience, 
or  by  reforming  yours.  Till  one  or  other  of  these  events 
happen,  I  must  remain  a  reprobate  and  a  slanderer;  and, 
let  me  be  ever  so  faithful  in  my  citations  from  your  writings, 
you  will  go  about  crying  everywhere,  "  What  an  instrument 
of  the  devil  must  that  man  be,  to  impute  to  us  things  of 
which  there  is  not  the  leas't  mark  or  vestige  to  be  found  in 
our  books !"  And,  by  doing  so,  you  will  only  be  acting  in 
conformity  with  your  fixed  maxim  and  your  ordinary  prac- 
tice ;  to  such  latitude  does  your  privilege  of  telling  lies  ex- 
tend !  Allow  me  to  give  you  an  example  of  this,  which  I 
select  on  purpose  :  it  will  give  me  an  opportunity  of  reply- 


304  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

ing,  at  the  same  time,  to  your  ninth  Imposture :  for,  in  truth, 
they  only  deserve  to  be  refuted  in  passing. 

About  ten  or  twelve  years  ago,  you  were  accused  of  hold- 
ing that  maxim  of  Father  Bauny,  "  that  it  is  permissible  to 
seek  directly  (primo  et  per  se)  a  proximate  occasion  of  sin, 
for  the  spiritual  or  temporal  good  of  ourselves  or  our  neigh- 
bor" (tr.  4,  q.  14) ;  as  an  example  of  which,  he  observes, 
"  It  is  allowable  to  visit  infamous  places,  for  the  purpose  of 
converting  abandoned  females,  even  although  the  practice 
should  be  very  likely  to  lead  into  sin,  as  in  the  case  of  one 
who  has  found  from  experience  that  he  has  frequently  yielded 
to  their  temptations."  What  answer  did  your  Father  Caus- 
sin  give  to  this  charge  in  the  year  1644  ?  "  Just  let  any  one 
look  at  the  passage  in  Father  Bauny,"  said  he,  "  let  him 
peruse  the  page,  the  margins,  the  preface,  the  appendix,  in 
short,  the  whole  book  from  beginning  to  end,  and  he  will  not 
discover  the  slightest  vestige  of  such  a  sentence,  which  could 
only  enter  into  the  mind  of  a  man  totally  devoid  of  con- 
science, and  could  hardly  have  been  forged  by  any  other  but 
an  instrument  of  Satan."*  Father  Pintereau  talks  in  the 
same  style  :  "  That  man  must  be  lost  to  all  conscience  who 
would  teach  so  detestable  a  doctrine  ;  but  he  must  be  worse 
than  a  devil  who  attributes  it  to  Father  Bauny.  Reader, 
there  is  not  a  single  trace  or  vestige  of  it  in  the  whole  of  his 
book."f  Who  would  not  believe  that  persons  talking  in 
this  tone  have  good  reason  to  complain,  and  that  Father 
Bauny  has,  in  very  deed,  been  misrepresented  ?  Have  you 
ever  asserted  anything  against  me  in  stronger  terms  ?  And, 
after  such  a  solemn  asseveration,  that  "  there  was  not  a  sin- 
gle trace  or  vestige  of  it  in  the  whole  book,"  who  would 
imagine  that  the  passage  is  to  be  found,  word  for  word,  in 
the  place  referred  to  ? 

Truly,  fathers,  if  this  be  the  means  of  securing  your  repu- 
tation, so  long  as  you  remain  unanswered,  it  is  also,  unfortu- 
nately, the  means  of  destroying  it  forever,  so  soon  as  an  an- 

*  Apology  for  the  Society  of  Jesus,  p  128. 
f  First  Part,  p.  24. 


BAREFACED    DENIALS.  305 

swor  makes  its  appearance.  For  so  certain  is  t  that  you  told 
a  lie  at  the  period  before  mentioned,  that  you  make  no  scru- 
ple of  acknowledging,  in  your  apologies  of  the  present  day, 
that  the  maxim  in  question  is  to  be  found  in  the  very  place 
which  had  been  quoted  ;  and  what  is  most  extraordinary,  the 
same  maxim  which,  twelve  years  ago,  was  "detestable,"  has 
now  become  so  innocent,  that  in  your  ninth  Imposture  (p.  10) 
you  accuse  me  of  "  ignorance  and  malice,  in  quarrelling  with 
Father  Bauny  for  an  opinion  which  has  not  been  rejected  in 
the  School."  What  an  advantage  it  is,  fathers,  to  have  to 
do  with  people  that  deal  in  contradictions  !  I  need  not  the 
aid  of  any  but  yourselves  to  confute  you ;  for  I  have  only 
two  tilings  to  show — first,  That  the  maxim  in  dispute  is  a 
worthless  one ;  and,  secondly,  That  it  belongs  to  Father 
Bauny ;  and  I  can  prove  both  by  your  own  confession.  In 
1644,  you  confessed  that  it  was  "detestable;"  and,  in  1656, 
you  avow  that  it  is  Father  Bauny's.  This  double  acknowl- 
edgment completely  justifies  me,  fathers  ;  but  it  does  more, 
it  discovers  the  spirit  of  your  policy.  For,  tell  me,  pray, 
what  is  the  end  you  propose  to  yourselves  in  your  writings? 
Is  it  to  speak  with  honesty  ?  No,  fathers  ;  that  cannot  be, 
since  your  defences  destroy  each  other.  Is  it  to  follow  the 
truth  of  the  faith  ?  As  little  can  this  be  your  end  ;  since,  ac- 
cording to  your  own  showing,  you  authorize  a  "  detestable" 
maxim.  But,  be  it  observed,  that  Avhile  you  said  the  maxim 
was  "  detestable,"  you  denied,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  was 
the  property  of  Father  Bauny,  and  so  he  was  innocent ;  and 
when  you  now  acknowledge  it  to  be  his,  you  maintain,  at  the 
same  time,  that  it  is  a  good  maxim,  and  so  he  is  innocent 
still.  The  innocence  of  this  monk,  therefore,  being  the  only 
thing  common  to  your  two  answers,  it  is  obvious  that  this 
was  the  sole  end  which  you  aimed  at  in  putting  them  forth ; 
and  that,  when  you  say  of  one  and  the  same  maxim,  that  it 
is  in  a  certain  book,  and  that  it  is  not ;  that  it  is  a  good 
maxim,  and  that  it  is  a  bad  one  ;  your  sole  object  is  to  white- 
wash some  one  or  other  of  your  fraternity;  judging  in  the 
matter,  not  according  to  the  truth,  which  never  changes,  but 


306  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

according  to  your  own  interest,  which  is  varying  every  hour. 
C..n  I  say  more  than  this  ?  You  perceive  that  it  amounts  to 
a  demonstration  ;  but  it  is  far  from  being  a  singular  instance  ; 
and,  to  omit  a  multitude  of  examples  of  the  same  thing,  I 
believe  you  will  be  contented  with  my  quoting  only  one 
more. 

You  have  been,  charged,  at  different  times,  with  another 
proposilion  of  the  same  Father  Bauny,  namely,  "That  abso- 
lution ought  to  be  neither  denied  nor  deferred  in  the  case  of 
those  who  live  in  the  habits  of  sin  against  the  law  of  God,  of 
nature,  and  of  the  Church,  although  there  should  be  no  ap- 
parent prospect  of  future  amendment — etsi  emendationis  fu- 
turce  spes  nulla  appareat"*  Now,  with  regard  to  this 
maxim,  I  beg  you  to  tell  me,  fathers,  which  of  the  apologies 
that  have  been  made  for  it  is  most  to  your  liking ;  whether 
that  of  Father  Pintereau,  or  that  of  Father  Brisacier,  both 
of  your  Society,  who  have  defended  Father  Bauny,  in  your 
two  different  modes — the  one  by  condemning  the  proposition, 
but  disavowing  it  to  be  Father  Bauny's ;  the  other  by  allow- 
ing it  to  be  Father  Bauny's,  but  vindicating  the  proposition  ? 
Listen,  then,  to  their  respective  deliverances.  Here  comes 
that  of  Father  Pintereau  (p.  8) :  "I  know  not  what  can  be 
called  a  transgression  of  all  the  bounds  of  modesty,  a  step 
beyond  all  ordinary  impudence,  if  the  imputation  to  Father 
Bauny  of  so  damnable  a  doctrine  is  not  worthy  of  that  desig- 
nation. Judge,  reader,  of  the  baseness  of  that  calumny; 
see  what  sort  of  creatures  the  Jesuits  have  to  deal  with ;  and 
say,  if  the  author  of  so  foul  a  slander  does  not  deserve  to  be 
regarded  from  henceforth  as  the  interpreter  of  the  father  of 
lies."  Now  for  Father  Brisacier :  "  It  is  true,  Father  Bauny 
says  what  you  allege."  (That  gives  the  lie  direct  to  Father 
Pintereau,  plain  enough.)  "  But,"  adds  he,  in  defence  of  Fa- 
ther Bauny,  "if  you  who  find  so  much  fault  with  this  sentiment, 
wait,  \vhen  a  penitent  lies  at  your  feet,  till  his  guardian  angel 
find  security  for  his  rights  in  the  inheritance  of  heaven ;  if 
you  wait  till  God  the  Father,  swear  by  himself  that  David 

*  Tr.  4,  q.  22,  p.  100 


FLAT    CONTRADICTIONS.  30f 

told  a  lie,  when  he  said,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  'all  men 
are  liars,'  fallible  and  perfidious  ;  if  you  wait  till  the  penitent 
be  no  longer  a  liar,  no  longer  frail  and  changeable,  no  longer 
a  sinrer.  like  other  men ;  if  you  wait,  I  say,  till  then,  you 
will  never  apply  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  to  a  single  soul."* 

What  do  you  really  think  now,  fathers,  of  these  impious 
and  extravagant  expressions  ?  According  to  them,  if  we 
would  wait  "  till  there  be  some  hope  of  amendment"  in  sin- 
ners before  granting  their  absolution,  we  must  wait  "  till  God 
the  Father  swear  by  himself,"  that  they  will  never  fall  into 
sin  any  more  !  What,  fathers  !  is  no  distinction  to  be  made 
between  hope  and  certainty  ?  How  injurious  is  it  to  the  grace 
of  Jesus  Christ,  to  maintain  that  it  is  so  impossible  for  Chris- 
tians ever  to  escape  from  crimes  against  the  laws  of  God, 
nature,  and  the  Church,  that  such  a  thing  cannot  be  looked 
for,  without  supposing  "that  the  Holy  Ghost  has  told  a  lie;" 
and  if  absolution  is  not  granted  to  those  who  give  no  hope  of 
amendment,  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  will  be  useless,  -for- 
sooth, and  "would  never  be  applied  to  a  single  soul !"  To 
Avhat  a  sad  pass  have  you  come,  fathers,  by  this  extravagant 
desire  of  upholding  the  glory  of  your  authors,  when  you  can 
find  only  two  ways  of  justifying  them — by  imposture  or  by 
impiety ;  and  when  the  most  innocent  mode  by  which  you 
can  extricate  yourselves,  is  by  the  barefaced  denial  of  facts  as 
patient  as  the  light  of  day  ! 

This  may  perhaps  account  for  your  having  recourse  so  fre- 
quently to  that  very  convenient  practice.  But  this  does  not 
complete  the  sum  of  your  accomplishments  in  the  art  of  self- 
defence.  To  render  your  opponents  odious,  you  have  had 
recourse  to  the  forging  of  documents,  such  as  that  Letter  of 
a  Minister  to  M.  Arnauld,  which  you  circulated  through  all 
Paris,  to  induce  the  belief  that  the  work  on  Frequent  Com- 
munion, which  had  been  approved  by  so  many  bishops  and 
doctors,  but  which,  to  say  the  truth,  was  rather  against  you, 
had  been  concocted  through  secret  int3lligence  with  the  min- 

*  Part.  4,  p.  21 


308  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

isters  of  Charenton.*  At  other  times,  you  attribute  to  your 
adversaries  writings  full  of  impiety,  such  as  the  Circular 
Letter  of  the  Jamenists,  the  absurd  style  of  which  renders 
the  fraud  too  gross  to  be  swallowed,  and  palpably  betrays 
the  malice  of  your  Father  Meynier,  who  has  the  impudence 
to  make  use  of  it  for  supporting  his  foulest  slanders.  Some- 
times, again,  you  will  quote  books  which  were  never  in  exist- 
ence, such  as  The  Constitution  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  from 
which  you  extract  passages,  fabricated  at  pleasure,  and  cal- 
culated to  make  the  hair  on  the  heads  of  certain  good  simple 
people,  who  have  no  idea  of  the  effrontery  with  which  you 
can  invent  and  propagate  falsehoods,  actually  to  bristle  with 
horror.  There  is  not,  indeed,  a  single  species  of  calumny 
which  you  have  not  put  into  requisition ;  nor  is  it  possible 
that  the  maxim  which  excuses  the  vice  could  have  been 
lodged  in  better  hands. 

But  those  sorts  of  slander  to  which  we  have  adverted  are 
rather  too  easily  discredited  ;  and,  accordingly,  you  have  oth- 
ers of  a  more  subtle  character,  in  which  you  abstain  from 
specifying  particulars,  in  order  to  preclude  your  opponents 
from  getting  any  hold,  or  finding  any  means  of  reply  ;  as,  for 
example,  when  Father  Brisacier  says  that  "  his  enemies  are 
guilty  of  abominable  crimes,  which  he  does  not  choose  to  men- 
tion." Would  you  not  think  it  were  impossible  to  prove  a 
charge  so  vague  as  this  to  be  a  calumny  ?  An  able  man, 
however,  has  found  out  the  secret  of  it ;  and  it  is  a  Capuchin 
again,  fathers.  You  are  unlucky  in  Capuchins,  as  times  now 
go ;  and  I  foresee  that  you  may  be  equally  so  some  other 
time  in  Benedictines.  The  name  of  this  Capuchin  is  Father 

*  That  is,  the  Protestant  ministers  of  Paris,  who  are  called  ''•  the 
ministers  of  Charenton,"  from  the  village  of  that  name  near  Paris,  where 
they  had  their  place  of  worship.  The  Protestants  of  Paris  were  forbid- 
den to  hold  meetings  in  the  city,  and  were  compelled  to  travel  five  leagues 
to  a  place  of  worship,  till  1606,  when  they  were  graciously  permitted  to 
erect  their  temple  at  Charenton.  about  two  leagues  from  the  city  !  (Be- 
noit,  Hist,  de  1'Edit.  de  Nantes,  i.  435.)  Even  there'  they  were  harassed 
by  the  bigoted  populace,  and  at  last  "  the  ministers  of  Charenton," 
among  whom  were  the  famous  Claude  and  Daillc,  were  driven  from 
their  homes,  their  chapel  burnt  to  the  ground,  and  their  people  scattered 
abroad. 


VAGUE    INSINUATIONS.  309 

Valerien,  of  the  house  of  the  Counts  of  Magnis.  You  shall 
hear,  by  this  brief  narrative,  how  he  answered  your  calum- 
nies. He  had  happily  succeeded  in  converting  Prince  Er- 
nest, the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Rheinsfelt.*  Your  fathers, 
however,  seized,  as  it  would  appear,  with  some  chagrin  at 
seeing  a  sovereign  prince  converted  without  their  having  had 
any  hand  in  it,  immediately  wrote  a  book  against  the  friar 
(for  good  men  are  everywhere  the  objects  of  your  persecu- 
tion), in  which,  by  falsifying  one  of  his  passages,  they  ascribed 
to  him  an  heretical  doctrine.  They  also  circulated  a  letter 
against  him,  in  which  they  said:  "Ah,  we  have  such  things 
to  disclose"  (without  mentioning  what)  "  as  will  gall  you  to 
the  quick !  If  you  don't  take  care,  we  shall  be  forced  to 
inform  the  pope  and  the  cardinals  about  it."  This  manoeuvre 
was  pretty  well  executed  ;  and  I  doubt  not,  fathers,  but  you 
may  speak  in  the  same  style  of  me ;"  but  take  warning  from 
the  manner  in  which  the  friar  answered  in  his  book,  which 
was  printed  last  year  at  Prague  (p.  112,  &c.)  :  "  What  shall 
I  do,"  he  says,  "  to  counteract  these  vague  and  indefinite 
insinuations?  How  shall  I  refute  charges  which  have  never 
been  specified?  Here,  however,  is  my  plan.  I  declare, 
loudly  and  publicly,  to  those  who  have  threatened  me,  that 
they  are  notorious  slanderers,  and  most  impudent  liars,  if  they 
do  not  discover  these  crimes  before  the  whole  world.  Come 
forth,  then,  mine  accusers  !  and  publish  your  lies  upon  the 
house  tops,  in  place  of  telling  them  in  the  ear,  and  keeping 
yourselves  out  of  harm's  way  by  telling  them  in  the  ear. 
Sorae  may  think  this  a  scandalous  way  of  managing  the  dis- 
pute. It  was  scandalous,  I  grant,  to  impute  to  me  such  a 
crime  as  heresy,  and  to  fix  upon  me  the  suspicion  of  many 
others  besides ;  but,  by  asserting  my  innocence,  I  am  merely 
applying  the  proper  remedy  to  the  scandal  already  in  exist- 
ence." 

Truly,  fathers,  never  were  your  reverences  more  roughly 
handled,  and  never  was  a  poor  man  more  completely  vindi- 

*  la  the  first  edition  it  was  said  to  be  the  Landgrave  of  Dannstat.by 

mist;ikev  as  «!iown  in  a  note  by  Nicole. 


810  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

cated.  Since  you  have  made  no  reply  to  such  a  peremptory 
challenge,  it  must  be  concluded  that  you  are  unable  to  dis- 
cover the  slightest  shadow  of  criminality  against  him.  You 
have  had  very  awkward  scrapes  to  get  through  occasionally ; 
but  experience  has  made  you  nothing  the  wiser.  For,  some 
time  after  this  happened,  you  attacked  the  same  individual 
in  a  similar  strain,  upon  another  subject ;  and  he  defended 
himself  after  the  same  spirited  manner,  as  follows :  "  This 
class  of  men,  who  have  become  an  intolerable  nuisance  to  the 
whole  of  Christendom,  aspire,  under  the  pretext  of  good 
works,  to  dignities  and  domination,  by  perverting  to  their 
own  ends  almost  all  laws,  human  and  divine,  natural  and 
revealed.  They  gain  over  to  their  side,  by  their  doctrine, 
by  the  force  of  fear,  or  of  persuasion,  the  great  ones  of  the 
earth,  whose  authority  they  abuse  for  the  purpose  of  accom- 
plishing their  detestable  intrigues.  Meanwhile  their  enter- 
prises, criminal  as  they  are,  are  neither  punished  nor  sup- 
pressed ;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  rewarded  ;  and  the  villains 
go  about  them  with  as  little  fear  or  remorse  as  if  they  were 
doing  God  service.  Everybody  is  aware  of  the  fact  I  have 
now  stated ;  everybody  speaks  of  it  with  execration  ;  but  few 
are  found  capable  of  opposing  a  despotism  so  powerful.  This, 
however,  is  what  I  have  done.  I  have  already  curbed  their 
insolence ;  and,  by  the  same  means,  I  shall  curb  it  again. 
I  declare,  then,  that  they  are  most  impudent  liars — MENTIRIS 
TMPUDEKTISSIME.  If  the  charges  they  have  brought  against 
me  be  true,  let  them  prove  it ;  otherwise,  they  stand  convicted 
of  falsehood,  aggravated  by  the  grossest  effrontery.  Their 
procedure  in  this  case  will  show  who  has  the  right  upon  his 
side.  I  desire  all  men  to  take  a  particular  observation  of  it ; 
and  beg  to  remark,  in  the  mean  time,  that  this  precious  cabal, 
who  will  not  suffer  the  most  trifling  charge  which  they  can 
possibly  repel  to  lie  upon  them,  made  a  show  of  enduring, 
with  great  patience,  those  from  which  they  cannot  vindicate 
themselves,  and  conceal,  under  a  counterfeit  virtue,  their  real 
impotency.  Mv  object,  therefore,  in  provoking  their  modesty, 
by  this  sharp  retort,  is  to  let  the  plainest  people  understand, 


ME^TIRIS   IMPCDENTIS3IME.  Sll 

that  if  mv  enemies  hold  their  peace,  their  forbearance  must 
be  ascribed,  not  to  the  meekness  of  their  natures,  but  to  the 
power  of  a,  guilty  conscience."  He  concludes  with  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  :  "  These  gentry,  whose  history  is  well  known 
throughout  the  whole  world,  are  so  glaringly  iniquitous  in 
their  measures,  and  have  become  so  insolent  in  their  i;n- 
punity,  that  if  I  did  not  detest  their  conduct,  and  publicly 
express  my  detestation  too,  not  merely  for  my  own  vindica- 
tion, but  to  guard  the  simple  against  its  seducing  influence,  I 
must  have  renounced  my  allegiance  to  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
Church." 

Reverend  fathers,  there  is  no  room  for  tergiversation.  You 
must  pass  for  convicted  slanderers,  and  take  comfort  in  your 
old  maxim,  that  calumny  is  no  crime.  This  honest  friar  has 
discovered  the  secret  of  shutting  your  mouths  ;  and  it  must 
be  employed  on  all  occasions  when  you  accuse  people  with- 
out proof.  We  have  only  to  reply  to  each  slander  as  it  ap- 
pears, in  the  words  of  the  Capuchin,  Menliris  impuJentissime 
— "  You  are  most  impudent  liars."  For  instance,  what 
better  answer  does  Father  Brisacier  deserve  when  he  says 
of  his  opponents  that  they  are  "  the  gates  of  hell ;  the  devil's 
bishops  ;  persons  devoid  of  faith,  hope,  and  charity ;  the 
builders  of  Antichrist's  exchequer  ;"  adding,  "  I  say  this  of 
him,  not  by  way  of  insult,  but  from  deep  conviction  of  its 
truth  ?"  Who  would  be  at  the  pains  to  demonstrate  that  he 
is  not  "  a  gate  of  hell,"  and  that  he  has  no  concern  with  "  the 
building  up  of  Antichrist's  exchequer  ?" 

In  like  manner,  what  reply  is  due  to  all  the  vague  speeches 
of  this  sort  which  are  to  be  found  in  your  books  and  adver- 
tisements on  my  letters  ;  such  as  the  following,  for  example : 
"  That  restitutions  have  been  converted  to  private  uses,  and 
thereby  creditors  have  been  reduced  to  beggary ;  that  bags 
of  money  have  been  offered  to  learned  monks,  who  declined 
the  bribe  ;  that  benefices  are  conferred  for  the  purpose  of 
disseminating  heresies  against  the  faith  ;  that  pensioners  are 
kept  in  the  houses  of  the  most  eminent  churchmen,  and  in 
the  courts  of  sovereigns ; --that  I  also  am  a  pensioner  of  Port- 


312  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

Royal ;  and  that,  before  writing  my  letters,  I  had  composed 
romances" — I,  who  never  read  one  in  my  life,  and  who  do 
not  know  so  much  as  the  names  of  those  which  your  apolo- 
gist has  published  ?  What  can  be  said  in  reply  to  all  this, 
fathers,  if  you  do  not  mention  the  names  of  all  these  persons 
you  refer  to,  their  words,  the  time,  and  the  place,  except — 
Ment'iris  impudentissime  ?  You  should  either  be  silent  alto- 
gether, or  relate  and  prove  all  the  circumstances,  as  I  did 
when  I  told  you  the  anecdotes  of  Father  Alby  and  John 
d'Alba.  Otherwise,  you  will  hurt  none  but  yourselves. 
Your  numerous  fables  might,  perhaps,  have  done  you  some 
service,  before  your  principles  were  known  ;  but  now  that  the 
whole  has  been  brought  to  light,  when  you  begin  to  whisper 
as  usual,  "  A  man  of  honor,  who  desired  us  to  conceal  his 
name,  has  told  us  some  horrible  stories  of  these  same  people" 
— you  will  be  cut  short  at  once,  and  reminded  of  the  Ca- 
puchin's Mentiris  impudentissime.  Too  long  by  far  have  you 
been  permitted  to  deceive  the  world,  and  to  abuse  the  con- 
fidence which  men  were  ready  to  place  in  your  calumnious 
accusations.  It  is  high  time  to  redeem  the  reputation  of  the 
multitudes  whom  you  have  defamed.  For  what  innocence 
can  be  so  generally  known,  as  not  to  suffer  some  injury  from 
the  daring  aspersions  of  a  body  of  men  scattered  over  the 
face  of  the  earth,  and  who,  under  religious  habits,  conceal 
minds  so  utterly  irreligious,  that  they  perpetrate  crimes  like 
calumny,  not  in  opposition  to,  but  in  strict  accordance  with, 
their  moral  maxims?  I  cannot,  therefore,  be  blamed  for 
destroying  the  credit  which  might  have  been  awarded  you ; 
seeing  it  must  be  allowed  to  be  a  much  greater  act  of  justice 
to  restore  to  the  victims  of  your  obloquy  the  character  which 
they  did  not  deserve  to  lose,  than  to  leave  you  in  the  posses- 
sion of  a  reputation  for  sincerity  which  you  do  not  deserve  to 
enjoy.  And  as  the  one  could  not  be  done  without  the  other, 
how  important  was  it  to  show  you  up  to  the  \vorld  ns  you 
really  are !  In  this  letter  I  have  commenced  the  exhibition ; 
but  it  will  require  some  time  to  complete  it.  Published  it 
shall  be,  fathers,  and  all  your  policy  will  be  inadequate  to 


THREAT    OP    FUTURE    DISCOVERIES.  313 

save  you  from  the  disgrace ;  for  the  efforts  which  you  may 
make  to  avert  the  blow,  will  only  serve  to  convince  the  most 
obtuse  observers  that  you  were  terrified  out  of  your  wits, 
and  that,  your  consciences  anticipating  the  charges  I  had  to 
bring  against  you,  you  have  put  every  oar  in  the  water  to 
prevent  the  discovery. 

14 


LETTER   XVI.* 

TO  THE   REVEREND   FATHERS,  THE  JESUITS. 

SHAMEFUL   CALUMNIES   OF   THE  JESUITS  AGAINST    PIOUS  CLERGYME5 
AND   INNOCENT   NUNS. 

December  4,  1656. 

REVEREND  FATHERS, — I  now  come  to  consider  the  rest  of 
your  calumnies,  and  shall  begin  with  those  contained  in  your 
advertisements,  which  remain  to  be  noticed.  As  all  your 
other  writings,  however,  are  equally  well  stocked  with  slander, 
they  will  furnish  me  with  abundant  materials  for  entertaining 
you  on  this  topic  as  long  as  I  may  judge  expedient.  In  the 
first  place,  then,  with  regard  to  the  fable  which  you  have 
propagated  in  all  your  writings  against  the  Bishop  of  Ypres.f 
I  beg  leave  to  say,  in  one  word,  that  you  have  maliciously 
wrested  the  meaning  of  some  ambiguous  expressions  in  one 
of  his  letters,  which  being  capable  of  a  good  sense,  ought, 
according  to  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  to  have  been  taken  in, 
good  part,  and  could  only  be  taken  otherwise  according  to 
Jhe  spirit  of  your  Society.  For  example,  when  he  says  to  a 
friend,  "  Give  yourself  no  concern  about  your  nephew ;  I 
will  furnish  him  with  what  he  requires  from  the  money  that 
lies  in  my  hands,"  what  reason  have  you  to  interpret  this  to 
mean,  that  he  would  take  that  money  without  restoring  it, 
and  not  that  he  merely  advanced  it  with  the  purpose  of  re- 
placing it?  And  how  extremely  imprudent  was  it  for  you  to 

*  The  plan  and  materials  of  this  letter  were  furnished  by  M.  Nicole. 
(Nicole,  iv.  243.) 

f  Jansenius,  who  was  made  Bishop  of  Ipres  or  Ypres,  in  1633.  The 
letters  to  which  Pascal  refers  were  printed  at  that  time  by  the  Jesuits 
themselves,  who  retained  the  originals  in  their  possession;  these  having 
come  into  their  hands  in  consequence  of  the  arrest  of  M.  De  St  Cy.-an. 


CALUMNIES    AGAINST   PORT-ROTAL.  815 

furnish  a  refutation  of  your  own  lie,  by  printing  the  other 
letters  of  the  Bishop  of  Ypres,  which  clearly  show  that,  in 
point  of  fact,  it  was  merely  advanced  money,  which  he  was 
hound  to  refund.  This  appears,  to  your  confusion,  from  the 
following  terms  in  the  letter,  to  which  you  give  the  date  of 
July  30,  1619:  "  Be  not  uneasy  about  the  money  advanced} 
he  shall  want  for  nothing  so  long  as  he  is  here ;"  and  like- 
wise from  another,  dated  January  6,  1620,  where  he  says: 
"  You  are  in  too  great  haste  ;  when  the  account  shall  become 
due,  I  have  no  fear  but  that  the  little  credit  which  I  have  in 
this  place  will  bring  me  as  much  money  as  I  require." 

If  you  are  convicted  slanderers  on  this  subject,  you  are 
no  less  so  in  regard  to  the  ridiculous  story  about  the  charity- 
box  of  St.  Merri.  What  advantage,  pray,  can  you  hope  to 
derive  from  the  accusation  which  one  of  your  worthy  friends 
has  trumped  up  against  that  ecclesiastic  ?  Are  we  to  con- 
clude that  a  man  is  guilty,  because  he  is  accused  ?  No,  fa- 
thers. Men  of  piety,  like  him,  may  expect  to  be  perpetually 
accused,  so  long  as  the  world  contains  calumniators  like  you. 
We  must  judge  of  him,  therefore,  not  from  the  accusation, 
but  JVom  the  sentencfe  ;  and  the  sentence  pronounced  on  the 
case  (February  23,  1656)  justifies  him  completely.  More- 
over, the  person  who  had- the  temerity  to  involve  himself  in 
that  iniquitous  process,  was  disavowed  by  his  colleagues,  and 
himself  compelled  to  retract  his  charge.  And  as  to  what 
you  allege,  in  the  same  place,  about  "  that  famous  director, 
who  pocketed  at  once  nine  hundred  thousand  livres,"  I  need 
only  refer  you  to  Messieurs  the  cures  of  St.  Roch  and  St. 
Paul,  who  will  bear  witness,  before  the  whole  city  of  Paris, 
to  hir  perfect  disinterestedness  in  the  affair,  and  to  your  in- 
excusable malice  in  that  piece  of  imposition. 

Enough,  however,  for  such  paltry  falsities.  These  are  but 
the  first  raw  attempts  of  your  novices,  and  not  the  master- 
strokes of  your  "grand  professed."*  To  these  do  I  now- 
come,  fathers ;  I  come  to  a  calumny  which  is  certainly  one 

*  The  Jesuits  must  pass  through  a  long  novitiate,  before  they  are  ad- 
mitted as  '  professed"  members  of  the  Society. 


316  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

of  the  basest  that  ever  issued  from  the  spirit  of  your  Society. 
I  refer  to  the  insufferable  audacity  with  which  you  have  im- 
puted to  holy  nuns,  and  to  their  directors,  the  charge  of 
"  disbelieving  the  mystery  of  transubstantiation,  and  the  real 
presence  of  Jesus  Christ  in  the  eucharist."  Here,  fathers, 
is  a  slander  worthy  of  yourselves.  Here  is  a  crime  which 
God  alone  is  capable  of  punishing,  as  you  alone  were  capa- 
ble of  committing  it.  To  endure  it  with  patience,  would  re- 
quire an  humility  as  great  as  that  of  these  calumniated  la- 
dies ;  to  give  it  credit  would  demand  a  degree  of  wickedness 
equal  to  that  of  their  wretched  defamers.  I  propose  not, 
therefore,  to  vindicate  them  ;  they  are  beyond  suspicion. 
Had  they  stood  in  need  of  defence,  they  might  have  com- 
manded abler  advocates  than  me.  My  object  in  what  I  say 
here  is  to  show,  not  their  innocence,  but  your  malignity.  I 
merely  intend  to  make  you  ashamed  of  yourselves,  and  to  let 
the  whole  wrorld  understand  that,  after  this,  there  is  nothing 
of  which  you  are  not  capable. 

You  will  not  fail,  I  am  certain,  notwithstanding  all  this,  to 
say  that  I  belong  to  Port-Royal ;  for  this  is  the  first  thing 
you  say  to  every  one  who  combats  your  errors :  as  if  it  were 
only  at  Port-Royal  that  persons  could  be  found  possessed  of 
sufficient  zeal  to  defend,  against  your  attacks,  the  purity  of 
Christian  morality.  I  know,  fathers,  the  work  of  the  pious 
recluses  who  have  retired  to  that  monastery,  and  how  much 
the  Church  is  indebted  to  their  truly  solid  and  edifying  la- 
bors. I  know  the  excellence  of  their  piety  and  their  learning. 
For,  though  I  have  never  had  the  honor  to  belong  to  their 
establishment,  as  you,  without  knowing  who  or  what  I  am, 
would  fain  have  it  believed,  nevertheless,  I  do  know  some  of 
them,  and  honor  the  virtue  of  them  all.  But  God  has  not 
confined  within  the  precincts  of  that  society  all  whom  he 
means  to  raise  up  in  opposition  to  your  corruptions.  I  hope, 
with  his  assistance,  fathers,  to  make  you  feel  this  ;  and  if  he 
vouchsafe  to  sustain  me  in  the  design  he  has  led  me  to  form, 
of  employing  in  his  service  all  the  resources  I  have  received 
from  him,  I  shall  spfeak  to  you  in  such  a  strain  as  will,  per- 


CALUMNIES    AGAINST    PORT-EOYAL.  31? 

haps,  give  you  reason  Jo  regret  that  you  have  not  had  to  do 
with  a  man  of  Port-Royal.  And  to  convince  you  of  this, 
fathers,  I  must  tell  you  that,  while  those  whom  you  have 
abused  with  this  notorious  slander  content  themselves  with 
lifting  up  their  groans  to  Heaven  to  obtain  your  forgiveness 
for  the  outrage,  I  feel  myself  obliged,  not  being  in  the  least 
affected  by  your  slander,  to  make  you  blush  in  the  face  of 
the  whole  Church,  and  so  bring  you  to  that  wholesome 
shame  of  which  the  Scripture  speaks,  and  which  is  almost 
the  only  remedy  for  a  hardness  of  heart  like  yours :  "  Imple 
fades  eorjm  ignominia,  et  qucerent  nomen  tuum,  Domine — 
Fill  their  faces  with  shame,  that  they  may  seek  thy  name, 
O  Lord."* 

A  stop  must  be  put  to  this  insolence,  which  does  not  spare 
the  most  sacred  retreats.  For  who  can  be  safe  after  a  cal- 
umny of  this  nature?  For -shame,  fathers!  to  publish 
in  Paris  such  a  scandalous  book,  with  the  name  of  your 
Father  Meynier  on  its  front,  and  under  this  infamous  title, 
"  Port-Royal  and  Geneva  in  concert  against  the  most  holy 
Sacrament  of  the  Altar,"  in  which  you  accuse  of  this  apos- 
tasy, not  only  Monsieur  the  abbe  of  St.  Cyran,  and  M.  Ar- 
nauld,  but  also  Mother  Agnes,  his  sister,  and  all  the  nuns  of 
that  monastery,  alleging  that  "  their  faith,  in  regard  to  the 
eucharist,  is  as  suspicious  as  that  of  M.  Arnauld,"  whom  you 
maintain  to  be  "  a  downright  Calvinist."f  I  here  ask  the 
whole  world  if  there  be  any  class  of  persons  within  the  pale 
of  the  Church,  on  whom  you  could  have  advanced  such  an 
abominable  charge  with  less  semblance  of  truth.  For  tell 
me,  fathers,  if  these  nuns  and  their  directors,  had  been  "in 
concert  with  Geneva  against  the  most  holy  sacrament  of  the 
altnr"  (the  very  thought  of  which  is  shocking),  how  they 
should  have  come  to  select  as  the  principal  object  of  their 
piety  that  very  sacrament  which  they  held  in  abomination  ? 
How  should  they  have  assumed  the  habit  of  the  holy  sacra- 
ment ?  taken  the  name  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment ?  culled  their  church  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sacra- 
*  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  16.  t  Pp-  98,  4. 


818  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

ment  ?  How  should  they  have  requested  and  obtained  from 
Rome  the  confirmation  of  that  institution,  and  the  right  of 
saying  every  Thursday  the  office  of  the  holy  sacrament,  in 
•which  the  faith  of  the  Church  is  so  perfectly  expressed,  if 
they  had  conspired  with  Geneva  to  banish  that  faith  from 
the  Church  ?  Why  would  they  have  bound  themselves,  by 
a  particular  devotion,  also  sanctioned  by  the  pope,  to  have 
some  of  their  sisterhood,  night  and  day  without  intermission, 
in  presence  of  the  sacred  host,  to  compensate,  by  their  per- 
petual adorations  towards  that  perpetual  sacrifice,  for  the 
impiety  of  the  heresy  that  aims  at  its  annihilation  ?  Tell  me, 
fathers,  if  you  can,  why,  of  all  the  mysteries  of  our  religion, 
they  should  have  passed  by  those  in  which  they  believed, 
to  fix  upon  that  in  which  they  believed  not  ?  and  how  they 
should  have  devoted  themselves,  so  fully  and  entirely,  to 
that  mystery  of  our  faith,  if  they  took  it,  as  the  heretics  do, 
for  the  mystery  of  iniquity  ?  And  what  answer  do  you  give 
to  these  clear  evidences,  embodied  not  in  words  only,  but  in 
actions  ;  and  not  in  some  particular  actions,  but  in  the  whole 
tenor  of  a  life  expressly  dedicated  to  the  adoration  of  Jesus 
Christ,  dwelling  on  our  altars?  What  answer,  again,  do 
you  give  to  the  books  which  you  ascribe  to  Port-Royal,  all 
of  which  are  full  of  the  most  precise  terms  employed  by  the 
fathers  and  the  councils  to  mark  the  essence  of  that  mystery  ? 
It  is  at  once  ridiculous  and  disgusting  to  hear  you  replying 
to  these,  as  you  have  done  throughout  your  libel.  M.  Ar- 
nauld,  say  you,  talks  very  well  about  transubstantiation ;  but 
he  understands,  perhaps,  only  "a  significative  transubstan- 
tiation." True,  he  professes  to  believe  in  "  the  real  pres- 
ence ;"  who  can  tell,  however,  but  he  means  nothing  more 
than  "  a  true  and  real  figure  ?"  How  now,  fathers  !  whom, 
pray,  will  you  not  make  pass  for  a  Calvinist  whenever  you 
please,  if  you  are  to  be  allowed  the  liberty  of  perverting  the 
most  canonical  and  sacred  expressions  by  the  wicked  subtil- 
ties  of  your  modern  equivocations  ?  Who  ever  thought  of 
using  any  other  terms  than  those  in  question,  especially  in 
simple  discourses  of  devotion,  where  no  controversies  are 


PORT-ROYALISTS    NO    HERETICS.  319 

handled  ?  And  yet  the  love  and  the  reverence  in  which 
they  hold  this  sacred  mystery,  have  induced  them  to  give  it 
such  a  prominence  in  all  their  writings,  that  I  defy  you,  fa- 
thers, with  all  your  cunning,  to  detect  in  them  either  the 
least  appearance  of  ambiguity,  or  the  slightest  correspond- 
ence with  the  sentiments  of  Geneva. 

Everybody  knows,  fathers,  that  the  essence  of  tne  Genevan 
heresy  consists,  as  it  does  according  to  your  own  showing,  in 
their  believing  that  Jesus  Christ  is  not  contained  (enferme), 
in  this  sacrament ;  that  it  is  impossible  'he  can  be  in  many 
places  at  once ;  that  he  is,  properly  speaking,  only  in  heaven, 
and  that  it  is  as  there  alone  that  he  ought  to  be  adored,  and 
not  on  the  altar  ;*  that  the  substance  of  the  bread  remains  ; 
that  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  does  not  enter  into  the  mouth 
or  the  stomach  ;  that  he  can  only  be  eaten  by  faith,  and 
accordingly  wicked  men  do  not  eat  him  at  all ;  and  that  the 
mass  is  not  a  sacrifice,  but  an  abomination.  Let  us  now  hear, 
then,  in  what  way  "  Port- Royal  is  in  concert  with  Geneva." 
In  the  writings  of  the  former  we  read,  to  your  confusion,  the 
following  statement:  That  "the  flesh  and  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ  are  contained  under  the  species  of  bread  and  wine  ;"f 
that  "  the  Holy  of  Holies  is  present  in  the  sanctuary,  and 
that  there  he  ought  to  be  adored  ;"J  that  "  Jesus  Christ 
dwells  in  the  sinners  who  communicate,  by  the  real  and  veri- 
table presence  of  his  body  in  their  stomach,  although  not  by 

*  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  observe,  that  in  this  passage  the  Protestant 
faith  on  the  supper  is  not  fairly  represented.  The  Reformers  did  not  deny 
that  Christ  was  really  present  in  that  sawament.  They  held  that  he 
xvas  present  spiritually,  though  not  corporeally.  Some  of  them  ex- 
pressed themselves  strongly  in  opposition  to  those  who  spoke  of  the  sup- 
per as  a  mere  or  bare  sign.  Calvin  says  :  "  There  are  two  things  in 
the  sacrament — corporeal  symbols,  by  which  things  invisible  are  pro- 
posed to  the  senses;  and  a  spiritual  truth,  which  is  represented  and 
sealed  by  the  symbols.  In  the  mystery  of  the  supper,  Christ  is  truly 
exhibited  to  us.  and  therefore  his  body  and  blood."  (Inst.,  lib.  iv.,  cap. 
17.  11.)  "  The  body  of  Christ"  says  Peter  Martyr  (Loc.  Com.,  iv.  10), 
'•  is  not  substantially  present  anywhere  but  in  heaven.  I  do  not,  how- 
ever deny  tlmt  his  true  body  and  true  blood,  which  were  offered  for  hu- 
man redemption  on  the  cross,  are  spiritually  partaken  of  by  believers  in 
the  holy  supper."  This  is  the  general  sentiment  of  Protestant  divines. 
(De  Moor,  in  Marck,  Compend.  Theol.,  p.  v.  67U,  &c.) 

t  Second  letter  of  M.  Arnauld,  p.  259.  J  Ibid.,  p.  243. 


320  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

the  presence  of  his  Spirit  in  their  hearts  ;"*  that  "the  dead 
ashes  of  the  bodies  of  the  saints  derive  their  principal  dignity 
from  that  seed  of  life  which  they  retain  from  the  touch  of 
the  immortal  and  vivifying  flesh  of  Jesus  Christ ;"f  that  "it 
is  not  owing  to  any  natural  power,  but  to  the  almighty 
power  of  God,  to  whom  nothing  is  impossible,  that  the  body 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  comprehended  under  the  host,  and  under 
the  smallest  portion  of  every  host  ;"|  that  "  the  divine  virtue 
is  present  to  produce  the  effect  which  the  words  of  conse- 
cration signify  ;"§  that  "  Jesus  Christ,  while  he  is  lowered 
(rabaisse),  and  hidden  upon  the  altar,  is,  at  the  same  time, 
elevated  in  his  glory ;  that  he  subsists,  of  himself  and  by  his 
own  ordinary  power,  in  divers  places  at  the  same  time — in 
the  midst  of  the  Church  triumphant,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
Church  militant  and  travelling  ;"||  that  "  the  sacramental 
species  remain  suspended,  and  subsist  extraordinarily,  with- 
out being  upheld  by  any  subject ;  and  that  the  body  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  also  suspended  under  the  species,  and  that  it 
does  not  depend  upon  these,  as  substances  depend  upon 
accidents  ;"^f  that  "  the  substance  of  the  bread  is  changed, 
the  immutable  accidents  remaining  the  same  ;"**  that  "Jesus 
Christ  reposes  in  the  eucharist  with  the  same  glory  that  he 
has  in  heaven  ;"|f  that  "  his  glorious  humanity  resides  in 
the  tabernacles  of  the  Church,  under  the  species  of  bread, 
•which  forms  its  visible  covering ;  and  that,  knowing  the 
grossness  of  our  natures,  he  conducts  us  to  the  adoration  of 
his  divinity,  which  is  present  in  all  places,  by  the  adoring  of 
his  humanity,  which  is  present  in  a  particular  place  ;"JJ  that 
"we  receive  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  the  tongue, 
which  is  sanctified  by  its  divine  touch  ;"§§  "  that  it  enters 
into  the  mouth  of  the  priest  ;"|||  that  "  although  Jesus  Christ 

*   Frequent  Communion,  3d    part,  ch.  16.      Poitrine — that  is,  the 
bodily  breast  or  stomach,  in  opposition  to  cceur— the  heart  or  soul, 
t  Ibid.,  1st  part,  ch.  40. 

j  Theolog.  Fan*.,  lee.  15.  §  Ibid. 

||  De  la  Suspension.  Rais.  21.  «y   Ibid.,  p.  23. 

**  Hours  of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  in  Prose, 
ft  Letters  of  M.  de  St  Cyran,  torn,  i.,  let.  93.  #  Ibid. 

$$  Letter  32.  ||  ||  Letter  72. 


PORT-ROYALISTS    NO    HERETICS.  321 

has  made  himself  accessible  in  the  holy  sacrament,  by  an  act 
of  his  love  and  graciousness,  he  preserves,  nevertheless,  in 
that  ordinance,  his  inaccessibility,  as  an  inseparable  condition 
of  his  divine  nature ;  because,  although  the  body  alone  and 
the  blood  alone  are  there,  by  virtue  of  the  words  vi  verbor:im, 
as  the  schoolmen  say,  his  whole  divinity  may,  notwithstand- 
ing, be  there  also,  as  well  as  his  whole  humanity,  by  a  neces- 
sary conjunction."*  In  fine,  that  "  the  eucharist  is  at  the 
same  time  sacrament  and  sacrifice  ;"f  and  that  "although 
this  sacriSce  is  a  commemoration  of  that  of  the  cross,  yet 
there  is  this  difference  between  them,  that  the  sacrifice  of  the 
mass  is  offered  for  the  Church  only,  and  for  the  faithful  in 
her  communion ;  whereas  that  of  the  cross  has  been  offered 
for  all  the  world,  as  the  Scripture  testifies.''^ 

I  have  quoted  enough,  fathers,  to  make  it  evident  that 
there  was  never,  perhaps,  a  more  imprudent  thing  attempted 
than  what  you  have  done.  But  I  will  go  a  step  farther,  and 
make  you  pronounce  this  sentence  against  yourselves.  For 
what  do  you  require  from  a  man,  in  order  to  remove  all  sus- 
picion of  his  being  in  concert  and  correspondence  with 
Geneva?  "If  M.  Arnauld,"  says  your  Father  Meynier, 
p.  93,  "had  said  that  in  this  adorable  mystery,  there  is  no 
substance  of  the  bread  under  the  species,  but  only  the  flesh 
and  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  should  have  confessed  that 
he  had  declared  himself  absolutely  against  Geneva."  Con- 
fess it,  then,  ye  revilers !  and  make  him  a  public  apology. 
How  often  have  you  seen  this  declaration  made  in  the  pas- 
sages I  have  just  cited  ?  Besides  this,  however,  the  Famil- 
iar Theology  of  M.  de  St.  Cyran  having  been  approved  by 
M.  Arnauld,  it  contains  the  sentiments  of  both.  Read, 
then,  the  whole  of  lesson  15th,  and  particularly  article  2d, 
and  you  will  there  find  the  words  you  desiderate,  even 
Eiore  formally  stated  than  you  have  done  yourselves.  "  Is 
tl  ere  any  bread  in  the  host,  or  any  wine  in  the  chalice  ? 
lio  :  for  all  the  substance  of  the  bread  and  the  wine 

*  Defence  of  the  Chaplet  of  the  H.  Sacrarrent,  p.  217. 
t  Theol.  Famil.,  lee.  15.  \  Hid.,  p.  153. 

14* 


322  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

is  taken  away,  to  give  place  to  that  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  which  substance  alone  remains 
therein,  covered  by  the  qualities  and  species  of  bread  and 
wine." 

How  now,  fathers !  will  you  still  say  that  Port-Royal 
teaches  "nothing  that  Geneva  does  not  receive,"  and  that 
M.  Arnauld  has  said  nothing  in  his  second  letter  "  which 
might  not  have  been  said  by  a  minister  of  Charenton  ?"  See 
if  you  can  persuade  Mestrezat*  to  speak  as  M.  Arnauld  does 
in  that  letter,  at  page  237  ?  Make  him  say,  that  it  is  an  in- 
famous calumny  to  accuse  him  of  denying  transubstantiation ; 
that  he  takes  for  the  fundamental  principle  of  his  writings  the 
truth  of  the  real  presence  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  opposition  to 
the  heresy  of  the  Calvinists ;  and  that  he  accounts  himself 
happy  for  living  in  a  place  where  the  Holy  of  Holies  is  con- 
tinually adored  in  the  sanctuary" — a  sentiment  which  is  still 
more  opposed  to  the  belief  of  the  Calvinists  than  the  real  pres- 
ence itself;  for  as  Cardinal  Richelieu  observes  in  his  Controver- 
sies (pnge  536) :  "  The  new  ministers  of  France  having  agreed 
with  the  Lutherans,  who  believe  the  real  presence  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  eucharist ;  they  have  declared  that  they  remain 
in  a  state  of  separation  from  the  Church  on  the  point  of  this 
mystery,  only  on  account  of  the  adoration  which  Catholics 
render  to  the  eucharist. "f  Get  all  the  passages  which  I  have 
extracted  from  the  books  of  Port-Royal  subscribed  at  Geneva, 

*  John  Mestrezat.  Protestant  minister  of  Paris,  was  born  at  Geneva 
in  1592  and  died  in  May  1657.  His  Sermons  on  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews and  other  discourses,  published  after  his  death,  are  truly  excel- 
lent. This  learned  and  eloquent  divine  frequently  engaged  in  contro- 
versy \vith  the  Romanists,  and  on  one  occasion  managed  the  debate 
with  such  spirit  that  Cardinal  Richelieu,  taking  hold  of  his  shoulder, 
exclaimed:  "This  is  the  boldest  minister  in  Prance."  (Bayle.  Diet., 
art.  Mestrexat.} 

t  The  statement  of  the  Protestant  faith,  given  in  a  preceding  note, 
may  suffice  to  show  that  it  differs,  toto  caelo,  from  that  of  Rome,  as  this 
is  explained  in  the  text.  The  leading  fallacy  of  the  Romish  creed  on 
this  subject  is  the  monstrous  dogma  of  transubstantiation;  the  adoration, 
of  the  host,  (s  merely  a  corollary-  Calvinists  and  Lutherans,  thou^i. 
ditTprinjin  their  views  of  the  ordinance,  always  a<rreed  in  acknowledg- 
ing the  real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  eucharist^  though  they  consider  the 
sense  in  which  Romanists  interpret  that  term  to  be  chargeable  with  blas- 
phemy and  absurdity. 


PORT-ROYALISTS    KO    HERETICS.  323 

and  not  the  isolated  passages  merely,  but  the  entire  treatises 
regarding  this  mystery,  such  as  the  Book  of  Frequent  Com- 
munion, the  Explication  of  the  Ceremonies  of  the  Mass,  the 
Exercise  during  Mass,  the  Reasons  of  the  Suspension  of  the 
Hol}^  Sacrament,  the  Translation  of  the  Hymns  in  the  Hours 
of  Port-Royal,  &c.;  in  one  word,  prevail  upon  them  to  estab- 
lish at  Charenton  that  holy  institution  of  adoring,  without 
intermission,  Jesus  Christ  contained  in  the  eucharist,  as  is 
done  at  Port-Royal,  and  it  will  be  the  most  signal  service 
which  you  could  render  to  the  Church ;  for  in  this  case  it 
will  turn  out,  not  that  Port-Royal  is  in  concert  with  Geneva, 
but  that  Geneva  is  in  concert  with  Port-Royal,  and  with  the 
whole  Church. 

Certainly,  fathers,  you  could  not  have  been  more  unfor- 
tunate than  in  selecting  Port-Royal  as  the  object  of  attack 
for  not  believing  in  the  eucharist ;  but  I  will  show  what  led 
you  to  fix  upon  it.  You  know  I  have  picked  up  some  small 
acquaintance  with  your  policy ;  in  this  instance  you  have 
acted  upon  its  maxims  to  admiration.  If  Monsieur  the  abbe 
of  St.  Cyran,  and  M.  Arnauld,  had  only  spoken  of  what 
ought  to  be  believed  with  great  respect  to  this  mystery,  and 
said  nothing  about  what  ought  to  be  done  in  the  way  of 
preparation  for  its  reception,  they  might  have  been  the  best 
Catholics  alive ;  and  no  equivocations  would  have  been  dis- 
covered in  their  use  of  the  terms  "  real  presence"  and  "  tran- 
substantiation."  But  since  all  who  combat  your  licentious 
principles  must  needs  be  heretics,  and  heretics  too,  in  the 
very  point  in  which  they  condemn  your  laxity,  how  could 
M.  Arnauld  escape  falling  under  this  charge  on  the  subject 
of  the  eucharist,  after  having  published  a  book  expressly 
against  your  profanations  of  that  sacrament  ?  What  !  must 
he  be  allowed  to  say,  with  impunity,  that  "  the  body  of  Jesus 
Christ  ought  not  to  be  given  to  those  who  habitually  lapse 
into  the  same  crime?,  and  who  have  no  prospect  of  amend- 
ment; and  that  such  persons  ought  to  be  excluded,  for  some 
time,  from  the  altar,  to  purify  themselves  by  sincere  pen- 
itence, that  they  may  approach  it  afterwards  with  benefit?" 
13* 


324  PEOVISCIAL    LETTERS. 

Suffer  no  one  to  talk  in  this  strain,  fathers,  or  you  will  find 
that  fewer  people  will  come  to  your  confessionals.  Father 
Brisacier  says,  that  "  were  you  to  adopt  this  course,  you 
would  never  apply  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  to  a  single  in- 
dividual." It  would  be  infinitely  more  for  your  interest  were 
every  one  to  adopt  the  views  of  your  Society,  as  set  forth  by 
your  Father  Mascarenhas,  in  a  book  approved  by  your  doc- 
tors, and  even  by  your  reverend  Father-General,  namely, 
"That  persons  of  every  description,  and  even  priests,  may 
receive  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  on  the  very  day  they  have 
polluted  themselves  with  odious  crimes ;  that  so  far  from 
such  communions  implying  irreverence,  persons  who  partake 
of  them  in  this  manner  act  a  commendable  part ;  that  con- 
fessors ought  not  to  keep  them  back  from  the  ordinance,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  ought  to  advise  those  who  have  recently 
committed  such  crimes  to  communicate  immediately ;  be- 
cause, although  the  Church  has  forbidden  it,  this  prohibition 
is  annulled  by  the  universal  practice  in  all  places  of  the 
earth."* 

See  what  it  is,  fathers,  to  have  Jesuits  in  all  places  of  the 
earth  !  Behold  the  universal  practice  which  you  have  intro- 
duced, and  which  you  are  anxious  everywhere  to  maintain  ! 
It  matters  nothing  that  the  tables  of  Jesus  Christ  are  filled 
with  abominations,  provided  that  your  churches  are  crowded 
with  people.  Be  sure,  therefore,  cost  what  it  may,  to  set 
down  all  that  dare  to  say  a  word  against  your  practice,  as 
heretics  on  the  holy  sacrament.  But  how  can  you  do  this, 
after  the  irrefragable  testimonies  which  they  have  given  of 
their  faith  ?  Are  you  not  afraid  of  my  coming  out  with  the 
four  grand  proofs  of  their  heresy  which  you  have  adduced  ? 
You  ought,  at  least,  to  be  so,  fathers,  and  I  ought  not  to 
spare  your  blushing.  Let  us,  then,  proceed  to  examine 
proof  the  first. 

"M.  de  St.  Cyran,"  says  Father  Meynier,  "  consoling  one 
of  his  friends  upon  the  death  of  his  mother  (torn,  i.,  let  14), 
says  that  the  most  acceptable  sacrifice  that  can  be  offered  up 
*  Mascar.,  tr.  4,  disp.  5,  n.  284. 


PORT-ROTALISI3    NO    HERETICS.  325 

to  God  on  such  occasions,  is  that  of  patience ;  therefore  he 
is  a  Calvinist."  This  is  marvellously  shrewd  reasoning,  fa- 
thers ;  and  I  doubt  if  anybody  will  be  able  to  discover  the 
precise  point  of  it.  Let  us  learn  it,  then,  from  his  own 
mouth.  "  Because,"  says  this  mighty  controversialist,  "  it  is 
obvious  that  he  does  not  believe  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass ; 
for  this  is,  of  all  other  sacrifices,  the  most  acceptable  unto 
God."  Who  will  venture  to  say  now  that  the  Jesuits  do  not 
know  how  to  reason  ?  Why,  they  know  the  art  to  such  per- 
fection, that  they  will  extract  heresy  out  of  anything  you 
choose  to  mention,  not  even  excepting  the  Holy  Scripture 
itself!  For  example,  might  it  not  be  heretical  to  say,  with 
the  wise  man  in  Ecclesiasticus,  "  There  is  nothing  worse  than 
to  love  money;"*  as  if  adultery,  murder,  or  idolatry,  were 
not  far  greater  crimes  ?  Where  is  the  man  who  is  not  in  the 
habit  of  using  similar  expressions  every  day  ?  May  we  not 
say,  for  instance,  that  the  most  acceptable  of  all  sacrifices  in 
the  eyes  of  God  is  that  of  a  contrite  and  humbled  heart ;  just 
because,  in  discourses  of  this  nature,  we  simply  mean  to  com- 
pare certain  internal  virtues  with  one  another,  and  not  with 
the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  which  is  of  a  totally  different  order, 
and  infinitely  more  exalted  ?  Is  this  not  enough  to  make  you 
ridiculous,  fathers  ?  And  is  it  necessary,  to  complete  your 
discomfiture,  that  I  should  quote  the  passages  of  that  letter 
in  which  M.  de  St.  Cyran  speaks  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass, 
as  "  the  most  excellent"  of  all  others,  in  the  following  terms  ? 
'•Let  there  be  presented  to  God,  daily  and  in  all  places,  the 
sacrifice  of  the  body  of  his  Son,  who  could  not  find  a  more 
excellent  way  than  that  by  which  he  might  honor  his  Fa- 
ther." And  afterwards :  "Jesus  Christ  has  enjoined  us  to 
take,  when  we  are  dying,  his  sacrificed  body,  to  render  more 
acceptable  to  God  the  sacrifice  of  our  own,  and  to  join  him- 
self with  us  at  the  hour  of  dissolution ;  to  the  end  that  he 
may  strengthen  us  for  the  struggle,  sanctifying,  by  his  pres- 
ence, the  last  sacrifice  which  we  make  to  God  of  our  life  and 
our  body  ?"  Pretend  to  take  no  notice  of  all  this,  fathers,  and 

*  Ecclesiasticus  (Apocrjpha). 


326  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

persist  in  maintaining,  as  you  do  in  page  39,  that  he  refused 
to  take  the  communion  on  his  death-bed,  and  that  he  did  not 
believe  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass.  Nothing  can  be  too  gross 
for  calumniators  by  profession. 

Your  second  proof  furnishes  an  excellent  illustration  of  this. 
To  make  a  Calvinist  of  M.  de  St.  Cyran,  to  whom  you  ascribe 
the  book  of  Petrus  Aurelius,  you  take  advantage  of  a  pas- 
sage (page  80)  in  which  Aurelius  explains  in  what  manner 
the  Church  acts  towards  priests,  and  even  bishops,  whom  she 
•wishes  to  degrade  or  depose.  "The  Church,"  he  says,  "be- 
ing incapable  of  depriving  them  of  the  power  of  the  order, 
the  character  of  which  is  indelible,  she  does  all  that  she  can 
do ; — she  banishes  from  her  memory  the  character  which  she 
cannot  banish  from  the  souls  of  the  individuals  who  have  been 
once  invested  with  it ;  she  regards  them  in  the  same  light  as 
if  they  were  not  bishops  or  priests ;  so  that,  according  to  the 
ordinary  language  of  the  Church,  it  may  be  said  they  are  no 
longer  such,  although  they  always  remain  such,  in  as  far  as 
the  character  is  concerned — 6b  indelebilitatem  characteris." 
You  perceive,  fathers,  that  this  author,  who  has  been  ap- 
proved by  three  general  assemblies  of  the  clergy  of  France, 
plainly  declares  that  the  character  of  the  priesthood  is  indel- 
ible ;  and  yet  you  make  him  say,-  on  the  contrary,  in  the  very 
same  passage,  that  "  the  character  of  the  priesthood  is  not 
indelible."  This  is  what  I  would  call  a  notorious  slander ;  in 
other  words,  according  to  your  nomenclature,  a  small  venial 
sin.  And  the  reason  is,  this  book  has  done  you  some  harm, 
by  refuting  the  heresies  of  your  brethren  in  England  touch- 
ing the  Episcopal  authority.  But  the  folly  of  the  charge  is 
equally  remarkable ;  for,  after  having  taken  it  for  granted, 
without  any  foundation,  that  M.  de  St.  C3-ran  holds  the 
priestly  character  tb  be  not  indelible,  you  conclude  from  this 
that  he  does  not  believe  in  the  real  presence  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  eiicharist. 

Do  not  expect  me  to  answer  this,  fathers.  If  you  have 
got  no  common  sense,  I  am  not  able  to  furnish  you  with  it. 
All  who  possess  any  share  of  it  will  enjoy  a  hearty  laugh  at 


PORT-ROYALISTS    KO    HERETICS.  327 

your  expense.  Nor  will  they  treat  with  greater  respect  your 
third  proof,  which  rests  upon  the  following  words,  taken  from 
the  Book  of  Frequent  Communion :  "  In  the  eucharist  God 
vouchsafes  iifthe  same  food  that  he  bestows  on  the  saints  in 
heaven,  with  this  difference  only,  that  here  he  withholds  from 
us  its  sensible  sight  and  taste,  reserving  both  of  these  for  the 
heavenly  world."*  These  words  express  the  sense  of  the 
Church  so  distinctly,  that  I  am  constantly  forgetting  what 
reason  you  have  for  picking  a  quarrel  with  them,  in  order  to 
turn  them  to  a  bad  use ;  for  I  can  see  nothing  more  in  them 
but  what  the  Council  of  Trent  teaches  (sess.  xiii.,  c.  8), 
namely,  that  there  is  no  difference  between  Jesus  Christ  in 
the  eucharist  and  Jesus  Christ  in  heaven,  except  that  here  he 
is  veiled,  and  there  he  is  not.  M.  Arnauld  does  not  say  that 
there  is  no  difference  in  the  manner  of  receiving  Jesus  Christ, 
but  only  that  there  is  no  difference  in  Jesus  Christ  who  is  re- 
ceived. And  yet  you  would,  in  the  face  of  all  reason,  inter- 
pret his  language  in  this  passage  to  mean,  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  no  more  eaten  with  the  mouth  in  this  world  than  he  is  in 
heaven ;  upon  which  you  ground  the  charge  of  heresy  against 
him. 

You  really  make  me  sorry  for  you,  fathers.  Must  we  ex- 
plain this  further  to  you  ?  Why  do  you  confound  that  divine 
nourishment  with  the  manner  of  receiving  it  ?  There  is  but 
one  point  of  difference,  as  I  have  just  observed,  betwixt  that 
nourishment  upon  earth  and  in  heaven,  which  is,  that  here  it 
is  hidden  under  veils  which  deprive  us  of  its  sensible  sight 
and  taste  ;  but  there  are  various  points  of  dissimilarity  in  the 
manner  of  receiving  it  here  and  there,  the  principal  of  which 
is,  as  M.  Arnauld  expresses  it  (p.  3,  ch.  16),  "that  here  it  en- 
ters into  the  mouth  and  the  breast  -both  of  the  gfcod  and  of 
the  wicked,"  which  is  not  the  case  in  heaven. 

And  if  you  require  to  be  told  the  reason  of  this  diversity, 
I  may  inform  you,  fathers,  that  the  cause  of  God's  ordaining 
these  different  modes  of  receiving  the  same  food,  is  the  dif- 
ference that  exists  betwixt  the  state  of  Christians  in  this  life 
*  Freq.  Com.,  3  part,  a-  11. 


328  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS- 

and  that  of  the  blessed  in  heaven.  The  state  of  the  Chris- 
tian, as  Cardinal  Perron  observes  after  the  fathers,  holds  a 
middle  place  between  the  state  of  the  blessed  and  the  state 
of  the  Jews.  The  spirits  in  bliss  possess  Jesus  Christ  really, 
without  veil  or  figure.  The  Jews  possessed  Jesus  Christ 
only  in  figures  and  veils,  such  as  the  manna  and  the  paschal 
lamb.  And  Christians  possess  Jesus  Christ  in  the  eucharist 
really  and  truly,  although  still  concealed  under  veils.  "  God," 
says  St.  Eucher,  "has  made  three  tabernacles — the  syna- 
gogue, which  had  the  shadows  only,  without  the  truth ;  the 
Church,  which  has  the  truth  and  shadows  together ;  and 
heaven,  where  there  is  no  shadow,  but  the  truth  alone."  It 
would  be  a  departure  from  our  present  state,  which  is  the 
state  of  faith,  opposed  by  St.  Paul  alike  to  the  law  and  to 
open  vision,  did  we  possess  the  figures  only,  without  Jesus 
Christ ;  for  it  is  the  property  of  the  law  to  have  the  mere 
figure,  and  not  the  substance  of  things.  And  it  would  be 
equally  a  departure  from  our  present  state  if  we  possessed 
him  visibly ;  because  faith,  according  to  the  same  apostle, 
deals  not  with  things  that  are  seen.  And  thus  the  eucharist, 
from  its  including  Jesus  Christ  truly,  though  under  a  veil,  is 
in  perfect  accordance  with  our  state  of  faith.  It  follows, 
that  this  state  would  be  destroyed,  if,  as  the  heretics  main- 
tain, Jesus  Christ  were  iiot  really  under  the  species  of  bread 
and  wine ;  and  it  would  be  equally  destroyed  if  we  received 
him  openly,  as  they  do  in  heaven :  since,  on  these  supposi- 
tions, our  state  would  be  confounded,  either  with  the  state  of 
Judaism  or  with  that  of  glory. 

Such,  fathers,  is  the  mysterious  and  divine  reason  of  this 
most  divine  mystery.  This  it  is  that  fills  us  with  abhorrence 
at  the  CaMnists,  who  would  reduce  us  to  the  condition  of 
the  Jews ;  and  this  it  is  that  makes  us  aspire  to  the  glory  of 
the  beatified,  where  we  shall  be  introduced  to  the  full  and 
eternal  enjoyment  of  Jesus  Christ.  From  hence  you  must 
sec  that  there  are  several  points  of  difference  between  the 
manner  in  which  he  communicates  himself  to  Christians  and 
to  the  blessed ;  and  that,  amongst  others,  he  is  in  this  world 


PORT-ROYALISTS    NO    HERETICS.  329 

received  by  the  mouth,  and  not  so  in  heaven  ;  but  that  they 
all  depend  solely  on  the  distinction  between  our  state  of  faith 
and  their  state  of  immediate  vision.  And  this  is  precisely, 
fathers,  what  M.  Arnauld  has  expressed,  with  great  plainness, 
in  the  following  terms  :  "  There  can  be  no  other  difference 
between  the  purity  of  those  who  receive  Jesus  Christ  in  the 
eucharist  and  that  of  the  blessed,  than  what  exists  between 
faith  and  the  open  vision  of  God,  upon  which  alone  depends 
the  different  manner  in  which  he  is  eaten  upon  earth  and  in 
heaven."  You  were  bound  in  duty,  fathers,  to  have  revered 
in  these  words  the  sacred  truths  they  express,  instead  of 
wresting  them  for  the  purpose  of  detecting  an  heretical  mean- 
ing which  they  never  contained,  nor  could  possibly  contain, 
namely,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  eaten  by  faith  only,  and  not 
bv  the  mouth  ;  the  malicious  perversion  of  your  Fathers 
Annat  and  Meynier,  which  forms  the  capital  count  of  their 
indictment. 

Conscious,  however,  of  the  wretched  deficiency  of  your 
proofs,  you  have  had  recourse  to  a  new  artifice,  which  is  noth- 
ing less  than  to  falsify  the  Council  of  Trent,  in  order  to 
convict  M.  Arnauld  of  nonconformity  with  it ;  so  vast  is  your 
store  of  methods  for  making  people  heretics.  This  feat  has 
been  achieved  by  Father  Meynier,  in  fifty  different  places  of 
his  book,  and  about  eight  or  ten  times  in  the  space  of  a  sin- 
gle page  (the  54th),  wherein  he  insists  that  to  speak  like  a 
true  Catholic,  it  is  not  enough  to  say,  "  I  believe  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  really  present  in  the  eucharist,"  but  we  must  say, 
"  I  believe,  with  the  council,  that  he  is  present  by  a  true 
local  presence,  or  locally."  And  in  proof  of  this,  he  cites  the 
council,  session  xiii.,  canon  3d,  canon  4th,  and  canon  6th. 
Who  would  not  suppose,  upon  seeing  the  term  local  presence 
quoted  from  three  canons  of  a  universal  council,  that  the 
phrase  was  actually  to  be  found  in  them  ?  This  might  have 
served  your  turn  very  well,  before  the  appearance  of  my 
fifteenth  letter;  but  as  matters  now  stand,  fathers,  the  trick 
has  become  too  stale  for  us.  We  go  our  way  and  consult 
the  council,  and  discover  only  that  you  are  falsifiers.  Such 


330  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

terms  as  local  presence,  locally,  and  locality,  never  existed  in 
the  passages  to  which  you  refer ;  and  let  me  tell  you  further, 
they  are  not  to  be  found  in  any  other  canon  of  that  council, 
nor  in  hny  other  previous  council,  nor  in  any  father  of  the 
Church.  Allow  me,  then,  to  ask  you,  fathers,  if  you  mean 
"to  cast  the  suspicion  of  Calvinism  upon  all  that  have  not 
made  use  of  that  peculiar  phrase  ?  If  this  be  the  case,  the 
Council  of  Trent  must  be  suspected  of  heresy,  and  all  the 
holy  fathers  without  exception.  Have  you  no  other  way 
of  making  M.  Arnauld  heretical,  without  abusing  so  many 
other  poople  who  never  did  you  any  harm,  and  among  the 
rest,  St.  Thomas,  who  is  one  of  the  greatest  champions  of  the 
eucharist,  and  who,  so  far  from  employing  that  term,  has  ex- 
pressly rejected  it — "  Nullo  modo  corpus  Christi  est  in  hoc 
Sacramento  localiter? — By  no  means  is  the  body  of  Christ  in 
this  sacrament  locally?"  Who  are  you,  then,  fathers,  to 
pretend,  on  your  authority,  to  impose  new  terras,  and  ordain 
them  to  be  used  by  all  for  rightly  expressing  then-  faith ;  as 
if  the  profession  of  the  faith,  drawn  up  by  the  popes  accord- 
ing to  the  plan  of  the  council,  in  which  this  term  has  no 
place,  were  defective,  and  left  an  ambiguity  in  the  creed  of 
the  faithful,  which  you  had  the  sole  merit  of  discovering? 
Such  a  piece  of  arrogance,  to  prescribe  these  terms,  even  to 
learned  doctors !  such  a  piece  of  forgery,  to  attribute  them 
to  general  councils !  and  such  ignorance,  not  to  know  the  ob- 
jections which  the  most  enlightened  saints  have  made  to  their 
reception !  "  Be  ashamed  of  the  error  of  your  ignorance,"* 
as  the  Scripture  says  of  ignorant  impostors  like  you — De 
mendacio  inerudilionis  tuce  confundere. 

Give  up  all  further  attempts,  then,  to  act  the  masters ; 
you  have  neither  character  nor  capacity  for  the  part.  If, 
however,  you  would  bring  forward  your  propositions  with 
a  little  more  modesty,  they  might  obtain  a  hearing.  For 
ahhou'_Hi  this  phrase,  local  presence,  has  been  rejected,  as 
you  have  seen,  by  St.  Thomas,  on  the  ground  that  the  body 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  in  the  eucharist,  in  the  ordinary  exten- 
*  Eccles.  iv.  25  (Apocrypha). 


SLANDERS    AGAINST   PORT-ROYAL.  331 

sion  of  bodies  in  their  places,  the  expression  Las,  neverthe- 
less, been  adopted  by  some  modern  controversial  writers,  who 
understand  it  simply  to  mean  that  the  body  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  truly  under  the  species,  which  being  in  a  particular  place, 
the  body  of  Jesus  Christ  is  there  also.  And  in  this  sense  M. 
Arnauld  will  make  no  scruple  to  admit  the  term,  as  M.  de 
St.  Cyran*  and  he  have  repeatedly  declared  that  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  eucharist  is  truly  in  a  particular  place,  and  miraculously 
in  many  places  at  the  same  time.  Thus  all  your  subtleties 
fall  to  the  ground  ;  and  you  have  failed  to  give  the  slightest 
semblance  of  plausibility  to  an  accusation,  which  ought  not  to 
have  been  allowed  to  show  its  face,  without  being  supported 
by  the  most  unanswerable  proofs. 

But  what  avails  it,  fathers,  to  oppose  their  innocence  to 
your  calumnies  ?  You  impute  these  errors  to  them,  not  in 
the  belief  that  they  maintain  heresy,  but  from  the  idea  that 
they  have  done  you  injury.  That  is  enough,  according  to 
your  theology,  to  warrant  you  to  calumniate  them  without 
criminality ;  and  you  can,  without  either  penance-or  confes- 
sion, say  mass,  at  the  very  time  that  you  charge  priests,  who 
say  it  every  day,  with  holding  it  to  be  pure  idolatry ;  which, 
were  it  true,  would  amount  to  sacrilege  no  less  revolting  than 
that  of  your  own  Father  Jarrige,  whom  you  yourselves  or- 
dered to  be  hanged  in  effigy,  for  having  said  mass  "  at  the 
time  he  was  in  agreement  with  Geneva."f 

What  surprises  me,  therefore,  is  not  the  little  scrupulosity 
with  which  you  load  them  with  crimes  of  the  foulest  and 
falsest  description,  but  the  little  prudence  you  display,  by  fix- 
ing on  them  charges  so  destitute  of  plausibility.  You  dispose 

*  Jean  du  Verger  de  Hauranne,  the  Abbe  de  Saint  Cyran  was  born 
at  Bayonne  in  1531.  He  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Jansenius  and  a 
man  of  great  piety  and  talents,  but  was  seized  as  a  heretic,  and  thrown 
by  Cardinal  Richelieu  into  the  dungeon  of  Vincennes.  .Alter  five  years' 
iirsprisonment.he  was  released,  but  died  shortly  after.  October.  11.  1643. 
By  his  followers,  M.  de  Saint  Cyran  was  reverenced  as  a  saint  and  a 
martyr. 

f  This  Father  Jarrige  was  a  famous  Jesuit,  who  became  a  Protes- 
tant, and  published  aftpr  his  separation  from  Rome,  a  book,  entitled 
"  Le  Jesuite  sur  V E chaff aut — The  Jesuit  on  the  Scaffold,"  in  which  he 
treats  his  old  friends  with  no  mercy. 


332  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

of  sins,  it  is  true,  at  your  pleasure ;  but  do  you  mean  to  dis- 
pose of  men's  beliefs  too?  Verily,  fathers,  if  the  suspicion 
of  Calvinism  must  needs  fall  either  on  them  or  on  you,  you 
\vould  stand,  I  fear,  on  very  ticklish  ground.  Their  language 
is  as  Catholic  as  yours ;  but  their  conduct  confirms  their 
faith,  and  your  conduct  belies  it.  For  if  you  believe,  as  well 
as  they  do,  that  the  bread  is  really  changed  into  the  body  of 
Jesus  Christ,  why  do  you  not  require,  as  they  do,  from  those 
whom  you  advise  to  approacb  the  altar,  that  the  heart  of 
stone  and  ice  should  be  sincerely  changed  into  a  heart  of 
flesh  and  of  love  ?  If  you  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  in  that 
sacrament  iii  a  state  of  death,  teaching  those  that  approach 
it  to  die  to  the  world,  to  sin,  and  to  themselves,  why  do  you 
suffer  those  to  profane  it  in  -whose  breasts  evil  passions  con- 
tinue to  reign  in  all  their  life  and  vigor  ?  And  how  do  you 
come  to  judge  those  worthy  to  eat  the  bread  of  heaven,  who 
are  not  worthy  to  eat  that  of  earth  ? 

Precious  votaries,  truly,  whose  zeal  is  expended  in  perse- 
cuting those  who  honor  this  sacred  mystery  by  so  many  holy 
communions,  and  in  flattering  those  who  dishonor  it  by  so  many 
sacrilegious  desecrations!  How  comely  is  it  in  these  cham- 
pions of  a  sacrifice  so  pure  and  so  venerable,  to  collect  around 
the  table  of  Jesus  Christ  a  crowd  of  hardened  profligates, 
reeking  from  their  debaucheries  ;  and  to  plant  in  the  midst 
of  them  a  priest,  whom  his  own  confessor  has  hurried  from 
his  obscenities  to  the  altar ;  there,  hi  the  place  of  Jesus  Christ, 
to  offer  up  that  most  holy  victim  to  the  God  of  holiness,  and 
convey  it,  with  his  polluted  hands,  into  mouths  as  thoroughly 
polluted  as  his  own !  How  well  does  it  become  those  Avho 
pursue  this  course  "  in  all  parts  of  the  world,"  in  conformity 
with  maxims  sanctioned  by  their  own  general,  to  impute  to  the 
author  of  Frequent  Communion,  and  to  the  Sisters  of  the  Holy 
Sacrament,  the  crime  of  not  believing  in  that  sacrament ! 

Even  this,  however,  does  not  satisfy  them.  Nothing  less 
will  satiate  their  rage  than  to  accuse  their  opponents  of  hav- 
ing renounced  Jesus  Christ  and  their  baptism.  This  is  no 
air-built  fable,  like  those  of  your  invention ;  it  is  a  fact,  and 


SLANDERS    AGAIXST   PORT-ROYAL.  333 

denotes  a  delirious  frenzy,  which  marks  the  fatal  consumma- 
tion of  your  calumnies.  Such  a  notorious  falsehood  as  this 
would  not  have  been  in  hands  worthy  to  support  it,  had  it 
remained  in  those  of  your  good  friend  Filleau,  through  whom 
you  ushered  it  into  the  world  :  your  Society  has  openly 
adopted  it ;  and  your  Father  Meynier  maintained  it  the  other 
day  to  be  "  a  certain  truth,"  that  Port-Royal  has,  for  the 
space  of  thirty-five  years,  been  forming  a  secret  plot,  of 
which  M.  de  St.  Cvran  and  M.  D'Ypres  have  been  the  ring- 
leaders, "  to  ruin  the  mystery  of  the  incarnation — to  make 
the  Gospel  pass  for  an  apocryphal  fable — to  exterminate  the 
Christian  religion,  and  to  erect  Deism  upon  the  ruins  of 
Christianity."  Is  this  enough,  fathers  ?  Will  you  be  satis- 
fied if  all  this  be  believed  of  the  objects  of  your  hate  ?  Would 
your  animosity  be  glutted  at  length,  if  you  could  but  succeed 
in  making  them  odious,  not  only  to  all  within  the  Church,  by 
the  charge  of  "consenting  with  Geneva"  of  which  you  accuse 
them,  but  even  to  all  who  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  though 
beyond  the  pale  of  the  Church,  by  the  imputation  of  Deism? 
But  whom  do  you  expect  to  convince,  upon  your  simple 
asseveration,  without  the  slightest  shadow  of  proof,  and  in 
the  face  of  ever}'  imaginable  contradiction,  that  priests  who 
preach  nothing  but  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  purity  of 
the  Gospel,  and  the  obligations  of  baptism,  have  renounced 
at  once  their  baptism,  the  Gospel,  and  Jesus  Christ  ?  Who 
will  believe  it,  fathers  ?  Wretched  as  you  are,*  do  you  be- 
lieve it  yourselves  ?  What  a  sad  predicament  is  yours,  when 
you  must  either  prove  that  they  do  not  believe  in  Jesus 
Christ,  or  must  pass  for  the  most  abandoned  calumniators. 
Prove  it,  then,  fathers.  Name  that  "  worthy  clergyman" 
who,  you  say,  attended  that  assembly  at  Bourg-Fontainef 

*  Miserables  que  TOUS  etes—one  of  the  bitterest  expressions  which 
Pascal  has  applied  to  his  opponents  and  one  which  they  have-deeply 
felt,  but  the  full  force  of  which  can  hardly  be  renderpd  int«  English. 

f  With  regard  to  this  famous  assembly  at  Bourir-Fontaine.  in  which 
it  was  alleged  a  conspiracy  was  formed  by  die  Jansenists  against  the 
Christian  re.liifion,  the  curious  reader  may  consult  the  work  of  M.  Ar- 
nauld  entitled  Morale  Pratique  des  Jesuit&s  vol.  viii..  where  there  ia  a 
detailed  account  of  the  whole  proceedings  (Niook,  iv.  233.) 


834  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

in  1621,  and  discovered  to  Brother  Filleau  the  design  there 
conceited  of  overturning  the  Christian  religion.  Name  these 
six  persons  who  yon  allege  to  have  formed  that  conspiracy. 
Name  the  individual  who  is  designated  by  the -letters  A^A,, 
who  you  say  "  was  not  Antony  Arnauld"  (because  he  con- 
vinced you  that  he  was  at  that  time  only  nine  years  of  age), 
"but  another  person,  who  you  say  is  still  in  life,  but  too  good 
a  friend  of  M.  Arnauld  not  to  be  known  to  him."  You  know 
him,  then,  fathers  ;  and  consequently,  if  you  are  not  destitute 
of  religion  yourselves,  you  are  bound  to  delate  that  impious 
wretch  to  the  king  and  parliament,  that  he  may  be  punished 
according  to  his  deserts.  You  must  speak  out,  fathers  ;  you 
must  name  the  person,  or  submit  to  the  disgrace  of  being 
henceforth  regarded  in  no  other  light  than  as  common  liars, 
unworthy  of  being  ever  credited  again.  Good  Father  Va- 
lerien  has  taught  us  that  this  is  the  way  in  which  such  char- 
acters should  be  "  put  to  the  rack,"  and  brought  to  their 
senses.  Your  silence  upon  the  present  challenge  will  fur- 
nish a  full  and  satisfactory  confirmation  of  this  diabolical 
calumny.  Your  blindest  admirers  will  be  constrained  to 
ad,rnit,  that  it  will  be  "  the  result,  not  of  your  goodness,  but 
your  impotency ;"  and  to  wonder  how  you  could  be  so  wicked 
as  to  extend  your  hatred  even  to  the  nuns  of  Port-Royal,  and 
to  say,  as  you  do  in  page  14,  that  The  Secret  Chaplet  of  the 
Holy  Sacrament  *  composed  by  one  of  their  number,  was 
the  first-fruit  of  that  conspiracy  against  Jesus  Christ ;  or,  as 
in  page  95,  that  "  they  have  imbibed  all  the  detestable  prin- 
ciples of  that  work;"  which  is,  according  to  your  account, 
"  a  lesson  in  Deism."  Your  falsehoods  regarding  that  book 
have  already  been  triumphantly  refuted,  in  the  defence  of 

*  The  Secret  Chaplet  of  the  most  Holy  Sacrament. — Such  was  the 
title  of  a  very  harmless  piece  of  mystic  devotion  of  three  or  four  pages, 
the  production  of  a  nun  of  Port-Royal,  called  Sister  Agnes  de  Saint 
Paul,  which  appeared  in  1(523.  It  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Sens — set  the  doctors  of  Paris  and  those  of  Louvain  by  the 
ears — occasioned  a  war  of  pamphlets  and  was  finally  carried  by  appeal 
to  the  Court  of  Rome,  by  which  it  was  suppressed.  (Nicole,  iv.  302.) 
Agnes  de  St.  Paul  was  the  younger  sister  of  the  Mere  Angclique  Ar- 
nauld,  and  both  of  them  were  Butters  of  this  celebrated  M.  Arnauld. 


THE    HOLT   THORN.  335 

the  censure  of  the  late  Archbishop  of  Paris  against  Father 
Brisacier.  That  publication  you  are  incapable  of  answering ; 
and  yet  you  do  not  scruple  to  abuse  it  in  a,  more  shameful 
manner  than  ever,  for  the  purpose  of  charging  women,  whose 
piety  is  universally  known,  with  the  vilest  blasphemy. 

Cruel,  cowardly  persecutors  !  Must,  then,  the  most  retired 
cloisters  afford  no  retreat  from  your  calumnies  ?  While 
these  consecrated  virgins  are  employed,  night  and  day,  ac- 
cording to  their  institution,  in  adoring  Jesus  Christ  in  the" 
holy  sacrament,  you  cease  not,  night  nor  day,  to  publish 
abroad  that  they  do  not  believe  that  he  is  either  in  the  eu- 
charist  or  even  at  the  right  hand  of  his  Father;  and  you  are 
publicly  excommunicating  them  from  the  Church,  at  the 
very  time' when  .they  are  in  secret  praying  for  the  whole 
Church,  and  for  you!  You  blacken  with  your  slanders 
those  who  have  neither  ears  to  hear  nor  mouths  to  answer 
you  !  But  Jesus  Christ,  in  whom  they  are  now  hidden,  not 
to  appear  till  one  day  together  with  him,  hears  you,  and  an- 
swers for  them.  At  the  moment  I  am  now  writing,  that 
holy  and  terrible  voice  is  heard  which  confounds  nature  and 
consoles  the  Church.*  And  I  fear,  fathers,  that  those  who 

*  This  refers  to  the  celebrated  miracles  of  "  the  Holy  Thorn,"  the  first 
of  which,  said  to  have  lately  taken  place  in  Port- Royal,  was  then  cre- 
ating much  sensation.  The  facts  are  briefly  these :  A  thorn,  said  to 
have  belonged  to  the  crown  of  thorns  worn  .by  our  Saviour,  having  been 
presented,  in  March  1656,  to  the  Monastery  of  Port-Royal,  the  nuns 
and  their  young  pupils  were  permitted,  each  in  turn,  to  kiss  the  relic. 
One  of  the  latter,  Margaret  Perier.  the  niece  of  Pascal,  a  girl  of  about 
ten  or  eleven  years  of  age.  had  beun  long  troubled  with  a  disease  in  the 
eye  (Jistula  lachrymalis),  which  had  baffled  the  skill  of  all  the  physi- 
cians of  Paris.  On  approaching  the  holy  thorn,  she  applied  it  to  the 
diseased  organ,  and  shortly  thereafter  exclaimed,  to  the  surprise  and 
delight  of  all  the  sisters,  that  her  eye  was  completely  cured.  A  certifi- 
cate, signed  by  some  of  the  most  celebrated  physicians,  attested  the  cure 
as,  in  their  opinion  a  miraculous  one.  The  friends  of  Port-Royal,  and  • 
none  more  than  Pascal,  were  overjoyed  at  this  interposition,  which,  be- 
ing followed  by  other  extraordinary  cures,  they  regarded  as  a  voice  from 
heaven  in  favor  of  that  institution.  The  Jesuits  alone  rejected  it  with 
ridicule,  and  published  a  piece,  entitled  ••  Kabat-joie.  &c. — A  Damper: 
or,  Observations  on  what  has  lately  happened  at  Port-Royal  as  to  the 
afl'nir  of  the  Holy  Thorn."  This  was  answered  in  November  1653,  in 
a  tract  supposed'to  have  been  written  by  M.  de  Pont  Chateau,  who  was 
called  "  the  Cierk  of  the  Holy  Thorn;'1  assisted  by  Pascal.  (Recueil  de 
Pieces,  fe  Jo  Port-Royal,  pp  283-448.)  It  has  been  well  observed, 


336  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

now  harden  their  hearts,  and  refuse  with  obstinacy  to  hear 
him,  while  he  speaks  in  the  character  of  God,  will  one  day 
be  compelled,  to  hear  him  with  terror,  when  lie  speaks  to 
them  ii>  the, character  of  a  Judge.  What  account,  indeed, 
fathers,  will  you  be  able  to  render  to  him  of  the  many  cal- 
umnies you  have  uttered,  seeing  that  he  will  examine  them, 
in  that  day,  not  according  to  the  fantasies  of  Fathers  Dicas- 
tille,  Gans,  and  PennaWssa,  who  justify  them,  but  according 
to  the  eternal  laws  of  truth,  and  the  sacred  ordinances  of 
his  own  Church,  which,  so  far  from  attempting  to  vindicate 
that  crime,  abhors  it  to  such  a  degree  that  she  visits  it  with 
the  same  penalty  as  wilful  murder  ?  By  the  first  and  second 
Councils  of  Aries  she  has  decided  that  the  communion  shall 
be  denied  to  slanderers  as  well  as  murderers,  till  the  approach 
of  death.  The  Council  of  Lateran  has  judged  those  unwor- 
thy of  admission  into  the  ecclesiastical  state  who  have  been 
convicted  of  the  crime,  even  though  they  may  have  reformed. 
The  popes  have  even  threatened  to  deprive  of  the  communion 
at  death  those  who  have  calumniated  bishops,  priests,  or 
deacons.  And  the  authors  of  a  defamatory  libel,  who  fail  to 
prove  what  they  have  advanced,  are  condemned  by  Pope 
Adrian  to  be  whipped  ; — yes,  reverend  fathers,  flagdlentur  is 
the  word.  So  strong  has  been  the  repugnance  of  the  Church 
at  all  times  to  the  errors  of  your  Society — a  Society  so  thor- 
oughly depraved  as  to  invent  excuses  for  the  grossest  of 
crimes,  such  as  calumny,  chiefly  that  it  may  enjoy  the  greater 
freedom  in  perpetrating  them  itself.  There  can  be  no  doubt., 
fathers,  that  you  would  be  capable  of  producing  abundance 
of  mischief  in  this  way,  had  God  not  permitted  you  to  fur 

"  that  many  laborious  and  voluminous  discussions  might  have  been 
saved,  if  the  simple  and  very  reasonable  role  had  been  adopted  of 
waiving  investigation  into  the  credibility  of  any  narrative  of  supernat- 
ural or  pretended  supernatural  events,  said  to  have  taken  place  upon 
consecrated  ground,  or  under  sacred  roofs."  (Natural  Hist,  of  Enthusi- 
asm, p.  23  '-.)  -'  It  is  well  known."  says  Mosheim  '  that  the  Jansenists 
and  Augustinians  have  loner  pretended  to  confirm  their  doctrine  by 
miracles;  and  they  even  acknowledge  that  these  miracles  have  saved 
them  when  theii"  tui'airs  have  been  reduced  to  a  desperate  situation." 
(Kuril.  Ecd.  Hist,  cent  xvii.,  sect,  a) 


CALUMNr  RENDERED  INNOCUOUS.          33t 

nish  with  your  own  hands  the  means  of  preventing  the  evil, 
and  of  rendering  your  slanders  perfectly  innocuous ;  for,  to 
deprive  you  of  all  credibility,  it  was  quite  enough  to  publish 
the  strange  maxim,  that  it  is  no  crime  to  calumniate.  Cal- 
umny is  nothing,  if  not  associated  with  a  high  reputation  for 
honesty.  The  defamer  can  make  no  impression,  unless  he 
has  the  character  of  one  that  abhors  defamation,  as  a  crime 
of  which  he  is  incapable.  And  thus,  fathers,  you  are  be- 
trayed by  your  own  principle.  You  established  the  doctrine 
to  secure  yourselves  a  safe  conscience,  that  you  might  slander 
without  risk  of  damnation,  and  be  ranked  with  those  "  pious 
and  holy  calumniators"  of  whom  St.  Athanasius  speaks.  To 
save  yourselves  from  hell,  you  have  embraced  a  maxim  which 
promises  you  this  security  on  the  faith  of  your  doctors ;  but 
this  same  maxim,  while  it  guarantees  you,  according  to  their 
idea,  against  the  evils  you  dread  in  the  future  world,  deprives 
you  of  all  the  advantage  you  may  have  expected  to  reap 
from  it  in  the  present ;  so  that,  in  attempting  to  escape  the 
guilt,  you  have  lost  the  benefit  of  calumny.  Such  is  the  self- 
contrariety  of  evil,  and  so  completely  does  it  confound  and 
destroy  itself  by  its  own  intrinsic  malignity. 

You  might  have  slandered,  therefore,  much  more  advan- 
tageously for  yourselves,  had  you  professed  to  hold,  with  St. 
Paul,  that  evil  speakers  are  not  worthy  to  see  God ;  for  in 
this  case,  though  you  would  indeed  have  been  condemning 
yourselves,  your  slanders  would  at  least  have  stood  a  better 
chance  of  being  believed.  But  by  maintaining,  as  you  have 
done,  that  calumny  against  your  enemies  is  no  crime,  your 
slanders  will  be  discredited,  and  you  yourselves  damned  into 
the  bargain  ;  for  two  things  are  certain,  fathers — first,  That 
it  will  never  be  in  the  power  of  your  grave  doctors  to  anni- 
hilate the  justice  of  God ;  and,  secondly,  That  you  could  not 
give  more  certain  evidence  that  you  are  not  of  the  Truth 
than  by  your  resorting  to  falsehood.  If  the  Truth  were  on 
your  side,  she  would  fight  for  you — she  would  conquer  for 
you ;  and  whatever  enemies  you  might  have  to  encounter, 
"  the  Truth  would  set  you  free"  from  them,  according  to  her 
15 


838  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

promise.  But  yon  hare  had  recourse  to  falsehood,  for  no 
other  design  than  to  support  the  errors  with  which  you  flat- 
ter the  sinful  children  of  this  world,  and  to  bolster  up  the 
calumnies  with  which  you  persecute  every  man  of  piety  who 
sets  his  face  against  these  delusions.  The  truth  being  dia- 
metrically opposed  to  your  ends,  it  behooved  you,  to  use  the 
language  of  the  prophet,  "  to  put  your  confidence  in  lies." 
You  have  said,  "  The  scourges  which  afflict  mankind  shall 
not  come  nigh  onto  us  ;  for  we  have  made  lies  our  refuge, 
and  under  falsehood  have  we  hid  ourselves."*  But  what 
says  the  prophet  in  reply  to  such  ?  "  Forasmuch,"  says  he, 
M  as  ye  have  put  your  trust  in  calumny  and  tumult  —  speras- 
tis  in  calumnia  et  in  tumultu  —  this  iniquity  and  your  ruin 
shall  be  like  that  of  a  high  wall  whose  breaking  cometh  sud- 
denly at  an  instant.  And  he  shall  break  it  as  the  breaking 
of  the  potter's  vessel  that  is  shivered  in  pieces"  —  with  such 
violence  that  "  there  shall  not  be  found  in  the  bursting  of  it 
a  shred  to  take  fire  from  the  hearth,  or  to  take  water  withal 
out  of  the  pit."f  "  Because,"  as  another  prophet  says,  "  ye 
have  made  the  heart  of  the  righteous  sad,  whom  I  have  not 
made  sad  ;  and  ye  have  flattered  and  strengthened  the  mal- 
ice of  the  wicked  ;  I  will  therefore  deliver  my  people  out 
of  your  hands,  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  their  Lord  and 
yours."J 

Yes,  fathers,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  if  you  do  not  repent, 
God  will  deliver  out  of  your  hands  those  whom  you  have  so 
long  deluded,  either  by  flattering  them  in  their  evil  courses 
with  your  licentious  maxims,  or  by  poisoning  their  minds 
with  your  slanders.  He  will  convince  the  former  that  the 
false  rules  of  your  casuists  will  not  screen  them  from  his  in- 
dignation ;  and  he  will  impress  on  the  minds  of  the  latter  the 
just  dread  of  losing  their  souls  by  listening  and  yielding 
credit  to  your  slanders,  as  you  lose  yours  by  hatching  these 


*  Isa.  xxviii.  15.  t  Isa.  IM. 

$  Ezek.  xiii.  23.  Pascal  does  not,  either  here  or  elsewhere,  when 
quoting  from  Scripture,  adhere  very  elosely  to  the  original,  nor  even  to 
we  Vulgate  version. 


NO  IMPUNITY  FOR  SLANDERERS.  339 

slanders  and  disseminating  them  through  the  world.  Let 
no  man  be  deceived  ;  God  is  not  mocked  ;  none  may  violate 
with  impunity  the  commandment  which  he  has  given  us  in 
the  Gospel,  not  to  condemn  our  neighbor  without  being  well 
assured  of  his  guilt.  And,  consequently,  what  profession  so- 
ever of  piety  those  may  make  who  lend  a  willing  ear  to  your 
lying  devices,  and  under  what  pretence  soever  of  devotion 
they  may  entertain  them,  they  have  reason  to  apprehend  ex- 
clusion from  the  kingdom  of  God,  solely  for  having  imputed 
crimes  of  such  a  dark  complexion  as  heresy  and  schism  to 
Catholic  priests  and  holy  nuns,  upon  no  better  evidence  than 
such  vile  fabrications  as  yours.  "  The  devil,"  says  M.  de 
Geneve,*  "  is  on  the  tongue  of  him  that  slanders,  and  in  the 
ear  of  him  that  listens  to  the  slanderer."  "  And  evil  speak- 
ing," says  St.  Bernard,  "  is  a  poison  that  extinguishes  charity 
in  both  of  the  parties  ;  so  that  a  single  calumny  may  prove 
mortal  to  an  infinite  number  of  souls,  killing  not  only  those 
who  publish  it,  but  all  those  besides  by  whom  it  is  not  re- 
pudiated."! 

Reverend  fathers,  my  letters  were  not  wont  either  to  be  so 
prolix,  or  to  follow  so  closely  on  one  another.  Want  of 
time  must  plead  my  excuse  for  both  of  these  faults.  The 
present  letter  is  a  very  long  one,  simply  because  I  had  no 
leisure  to  make  it  shorter.  You  know  the  reason  of  this 
haste  better  than  I  do.  You  have  been  unlucky  in  your 
answers.  You  have  done  well,  therefore,  to  change  your 
plan  ;  but  I  am  afraid  that  you  will  get  no  credit  for  it,  and 
that  people  will  say  it  was  done  for  fear  of  the  Benedictines. 

I  have  just  come  to  learn  that  the  person  who  was  gene- 
rally reported  to  be  the  author  of  your  Apologies,  disclaims 
them,  and  is  annoyed  at  their  having  been  ascribed  to  him. 
He  has  good  reason ;  and  I  was  wrong  to  have  suspected 
him  of  any  such  thing ;  for,  in  spite  of  the  assurances  which 

*  This  was  the  name  given  to  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  bishop  and  prince 
of  Geneva,  previously  to  his  canonization,  which  took  place  in  1665. 
f  Serm.  24  in  Cantic. 


340  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

I  received,  I  ought  to  have  considered  that  he  was  a  man 
of  too  much  good  sense  to  believe  your  accusations,  and  of 
too  much  honor  to  publish  them  if  he  did  not  believe  them. 
There  are  few  people  in  the  world  capable  of  your  extrava- 
gances ;  they  are  peculiar  to  yourselves,  and  mark  your 
character  too  plainly  to  admit  of  any  excuse  for  having  failed 
to  recognize  your  hand  in  their  concoction.  I  was  led  away 
by  the  common  report;  but  this  apology,  which  would  be 
too  good  for  you,  is  not  sufficient  for  me,  who  profess  to  ad- 
vance nothing  without  certain  proof.  In  no  other  instance 
have  I  been  guilty  of  departing  from  this  rule.  I  am  sorry 
for  what  I  said.  I  retract  it ;  and  I  only  wish  that  you  may 
profit  by  my  example."* 

*  These  two  postscripts  have  been  often  admired — the  former  for  the 
author's  elegant  excuse  for  the  length  of  his  letter;  the  latter  for  th« 
adroitness  with  which  he  turns  his  apology  for  an  undesigned  mistak* 
into  a  stroke  at  the  disingenuousness  of  his  opponents. 


sui     .r.!si; 

Oil  .  > .,     {    ". 


:::i 


LETTER  XVII.* 

TO  THE  REVEREND   FATHER  ANNAT,  JESUIT.f 

THE  AUTHOR  OF  THE  LETTERS  VINDICATED  FROM  THE  CHARGE  OF 
HERESY — AN  HERETICAL  PHANTOM — POPES  AND  GENERAL  COUN- 
CILS NOT  INFALLIBLE  IN  QUESTIONS  OF  FACT. 

January  23,  1657. 

REVEREND  FATHER, — Your  former  behavior  had  induced 
me  to  believe  that  you  were  anxious  for  a  truce  in  our  hos- 
tilities ;  and  I  was  quite  disposed  to  agree  that  it  should  be 
so.  Of  late,  however,  you  have  poured  forth  such  a  volley 
of  pamphlets,  in  such  rapid  succession,  as  to  make  it  appa- 
rent that  peace  rests  on  a  very  precarious  footing  when  it  de- 
pends on  the  silence  of  Jesuits.  I  know  not  if  this  rupture 
will  prove  very  advantageous  to  you ;  but,  for  my  part,  I  am 
far  from  regretting  the  opportunity  which  it  affords  me  of 
rebutting  that  stale  charge  of  heresy  with  which  your  writ- 
ings abound. 

It  is  full  time,  indeed,  that  I  should,  once  for  all,  put  a 
stop  to  the  liberty  you  have  taken  to  treat  me  as  a  heretic — 
a  piece  of  gratuitous  impertinence  which  seems  to  increase 
by  indulgence,  and  which  is  exhibited  in  your  last  book  in  a 
style  of  such  intolerable  assurance,  that  were  I  not  to  an- 
swer the  charge  as  it  deserves,  I  might  lay  myself  open  to 
the  suspicion  of  being  actually  guilty.  So  long  as  the  insult 
was  confined  to  your  associates  I  despised  it,  as  I  did  a  thou- 
sand others  with  which  they  interlarded  their  productions. 
To  these  my  fifteenth  letter  was  a  sufficient  reply.  But  you 

*  M.  Nicole  furnished  the  materials  for  this  letter.     (Nicole,  iv.  324.) 

f  Francis  Annat,  the  same  person  formerly  referred  to  at   p.  102. 

He  became  French  provincial  of  the  Jesuits,  and  confestor  to  Louis  XIV 


342  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

now  repeat  the  charge  with  a  different  air :  you  make  it  the 
main  point  of  your  vindication.  It  is,  in  fact,  almost  the 
only  thing  in  the  shape  of  argument  that  you  employ.  You 
say  that,  "  as  a  complete  answer  to  my  fifteen  letters,  it  is 
enough  to  say  fifteen  times  that  I  am  a  heretic ;  and  having 
been  pronounced  such,  I  deserve  no  credit."  In  short,  you 
make  no  question  of  my  apostasy,  but  assume  it  as  a  settled 
point,  on  which  you  may  build  with  all  confidence.  You  are 
serious  then,  father,  it  would  seem,  in  deeming  me  a  heretic. 
I  shall  be  equally  serious  hi  replying  to  the  charge. 

You  are  well  aware,  sir,  that  heresy  is  a  charge  of  so 
grave  a  character,  that  it  is  an  act  of  high  presumption  to 
advance,  without  being  prepared  to  substantiate  it.  I  now 
demand  your  proofs.  When  was  I  seen  at  Charenton  ? 
When  did  I  fail  in  my  presence  at  mass,  or  in  my  Christian 
duty  to  my  parish  church  ?  What  act  of  union  with  here- 
tics, or  of  schism  with  the  Church,  can  you  lay  to  my  charge  ? 
What  council  have  I  contradicted  ?  What  papal  constitu- 
tion have  I  violated  ?  You  must  answer,  father,  else 

You  know  what  I  mean.*  And  what  do  you  answer  ?  I 
beseech  all  to  observe  it :  First  of  all,  you  assume  "  that  the 
author  of  the  letters  is  a  Port-Royalist ;"  then  you  tell  us 
"  that  Port- Royal  is  declared  to  be  heretical ;"  and,  there- 
fore, you  conclude,  "  the  author  of  the  letters  must  be  a  here- 
tic." It  is  not  on  me,  then,  father,  that  the  weight  of  this 
indictment  falls,  but  on  Port-Royal ;  and  I  am  only  involved 
in  the  crime  because  you  suppose  me  to  belong  to  that  estab- 
lishment ;  so  that  it  will  be  no  difficult  matter  for  me  to  ex- 
culpate myself  from  the  charge.  I  have  no  more  to  say  than 
that  I  am  not  a  member  of  that  community ;  and  to  refer 
you  to  my  letters,  in  which  I  have  declared  that  "I  am  a 
private  individual ;"  and  again  in  so  many  words,  that  "  I  am 
not  of  Port- Royal,"  as  I  said  in  my  sixteenth  letter,  which 
preceded  your  publication. 

You  must  fall  on  some  other  way,  then,  to  prove  me  a 

*  A  threat,  evidently,  of  administering  to  him  the  Mentlria 
fimnwofthe  Capuchin,  mentioned  at  p.  310. 


CHARGE    OF   HERESY.  343 

heretic,  otherwise  the  whole  world  will  be  convinced  that  it 
is  beyond  your  power  to  make  good  your  accusation.  Prove 
from  my  writings  that  I  do  not  receive  the  constitution.* 
My  letters  are  not  very  voluminous — there  are  but  sixteen  of 
them — and  I  defy  you  or  anybody  else  to  detect  in  them  the 
slightest  foundation  for  such  a  charge.  I  shall,  however, 
with  your  permission,  produce  something  out  of  them  to 
prove  the  reverse.  When,  for  example,  I  say  in  the  four- 
teenth that,  "  by  killing  our  brethren  in  mortal  sin,  according 
to  your  maxims,  we  are  damning  those  for  whom  Jesus 
Christ  died,"  do  I  not  plainly  acknowledge  that  Jesus  Christ 
died  for  those  who  may  be  damned,  and,  consequently,  de- 
clare it  to  be  false  "  that  he  died  only  for  the  predestinated," 
which  is  the  error  condemned  in  the  fifth  proposition  ?  Cer- 
tain it  is,  father,  that  I  have  not  said  a  word  in  behalf  of 
these  impious  propositions,  which  I  detest  with  all  my  heartf 
And  even  though  Port- Royal  should  hold  them,  I  protest 
against  your  drawing  any  conclusion  from  this  against  me, 
as,  thank  God,  I  have  no  sort  of  connection  with  any  com- 
munity except  the  Catholic,  Apostolic  and  Roman  Church, 
in  the  bosom  of  which  I  desire  to  live  and  die,  in  communion 
with  the  pope,  the  head  of  the  Charch,  and  beyond  the  pale 
of  which  I  am  persuaded  there  is  no  salvation. 

*  The  constitution— th&t  is,  the  bull  of  Pope  Alexander  VII.,  issued 
in  October  1656,  ia  which  he  not  only  condemned  the  Five  Proposi- 
tions, but,  in  compliance  with  the  solicitations  of  the  Jesuits,  added  an 
express  clause,  to  the  effect  that  these  had  been  faithfully  extracted  from 
Jansenius,  and  were  heretical  in  the  sense  in  which  he  (Jansenius) 
employed  them.  This  was  a  more  stringent  constitution  than  the  first ; 
but  the  Jansenists  were  ready  to  meet  him  on  this  point ;  they  replied 
that  a  declaration  of  this  nature  overstepped  the  limits  of  the  papal  au- 
thority, and  that  the  pope's  infallibility  did  not  extend  to  a  judgment 
offacts. 

•\  The  Fivt  Propositions. — A  brief  view  of  these  celebrated  Proposi- 
tions may  be  here  given,  as  necessary  to  the  understanding  of  the  text. 
They  were  as  fallows : — I.  That  some  commandments  of  God  are  im- 
practicable even  to  the  righteous,  who  desire  to  keep  them,  according 
to  their  present  strength.  II.  That  grace  is  irresistible.  III.  That 
moral  freedom  consists,  not  in  exemption  from  necessity,  but  from  con- 
straint. IV.  That  to  assert  that  the  will  may  resist  or  obey  the  motions 
of  converting  grace  as  it  pleased,  was  a  heresy  of  the  semi- Pelagians. 
V.  That  to  assert  that  Jesus  Christ  died  for  all  men,  without  exception, 
is  an  error  of  the  semi-Pelagians.  For  a  fuller  explication  of  the  coa- 
troversy,  the  reader  must  be  referred  to  the  Introduction, 


844  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

How  are  you  to  get  at  a  person  who  talks  in  this  way,  fa- 
ther  ?  On  what  quarter  will  you  assail  me,  since  neither  my 
words  nor  my  writings  afford  the  slightest  handle  to  your 
accusations,  and  the  obscurity  in  which  my  person  is  envel- 
oped forms  my  protection  against  your  threatenings  ?  You 
feel  yourselves  smitten  by  an  invisible  hand — a  hand,  how- 
ever, which  makes  your  delinquencies  visible  to  all ;  and  in 
vain  do  you  try  to  strike  at  me  in  the  dark,  through  the  sides 
of  those  with  whom  you  suppose  me  to  be  associated.  I 
fear  you  not,  either  on  my  own  account  or  on  that  of  any 
other,  being  bound  by  no  tie  either  to  a  community  or  to  any 
individual  whatsoever.*  All  the  influence  which  your  Soci- 
ety possesses  can  be  of  no  avail  in  my  case.  From  this  world 
I  have  nothing  to  hope,  nothing  to  dread,  nothing  to  desire. 
Through  the  goodness  of  God,  I  have  no  need  of  any  man's 
money  or  any  man's  patronage.  Thus,  father,  I  elude  all 
your  attempts  to  catch  hold  of  me.  You  may  touch  Port- 
Royal  if  you  choose,  but  you  shall  not  touch  me.  You  may 
turn  people  out  of  the  Sorbonne,  but  that  will  not  turn  me 
out  of  my  domicile.  You  may  hatch  plots  against  priests 
and  doctors,  but  not  against  me,  for  I  am  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other.  And  thus,  father,  you  never  perhaps  had  to 
do,  in  the  whole  course  of  your  experience,  with  a  person  so 
completely  beyond  your  reach,  and  therefore  so  admirably 
qualified  for  dealing  with  your  errors — one  perfectly  free — 
one  without  engagement,  entanglement,  relationship,  or  busi- 
ness of  any  kind — one,  too,  who  is  pretty  well  versed  in 
your  maxims,  and  determined,  as  God  shall  give  him  light, 
to  discuss  them,  without  permitting  any  earthly  considera- 
tion to  arrest  or  slacken  his  endeavors. 

*  Pascal  might  say  this  with  truth,  for  his  only  relatives  being  nuns, 
the  tie  of  earthly  relationship  was  considered  by  him  as  no  longer  ex- 
isting; and  beyond  personal  friendship,  he  had  really  no  connection 
with  Port-Royal.  There  is  as  little  truth  as  force,  therefore,  in  the  taunt 
of  a  late  advocate  of  the  Jesuits,  who  says,  in  reference  to  this  passage, 
"  Pascal  was  intimately  connected  with  Port-Royal,  he  was  even  num- 
bered among  its  recluses ;  and  yet,  in  the  act  of  unmasking  the  pre- 
sumed duplicity  of  the  Jesuits,  the  sublime  writer  did  not  scruple  to  imi- 
tate h."  (Hist,  de  la  Comp.  de  Jesus,  par  J.  Cretineau-Joly,  torn.  iv. 
»54.  P».rw,  1845.) 


CHARGE    OF   HERESY. 

Since,  then,  you  can  do  nothing  against  me,  what  good 
purpose  can  it  serve  to  publish  so  many  calumnies,  as  you 
and  your  brethren  are  doing,  against  a  class  of  persons  who 
are  in  no  way  implicated  in  our  disputes  ?  You  shall  not  es- 
cape under  these  subterfuges :  you  shall  be  made  to  feel  the 
force  of  the  truth  in  spite  of  them.  How  does  the  case 
stand  ?  I  tell  you  that  you  are  ruining  Christian  morality 
by  divorcing  it  from  the  love  of  God,  and  dispensing  with 
its  obligation ;  and  you  talk  about  "  the  death  of  Father  Mes- 
ter" — a  person  whom  I  never  saw  in  my  life.  I  tell  you 
that  your  authors  permit  a  man  to  kill  another  for  the  sake 
of  an  apple,  when  it  would  be  dishonorable  to  lose  it ;  and 
you  reply  by  informing  me  that  somebody  "  has  broken  into 
the  poor's  box  at  St.  Merri !"  Again,  what  can  you  possibly 
mean  by  mixing  me  up  perpetually  with  the  book  "  On  the 
Holy  Virginity,"  written  by  some  father  of  the  Oratory,  whom 
I  never  saw,  any  more  than  his  book  ?"*  It  is  rather  extraor- 
dinary, father,  that  you  should  thus  regard  all  that  are  op- 
posed to  you  as  if  they  were  one  person.  Your  hatred 
would  grasp  them  all  at  once,  and  would  hold  them  as  a 
body  of  reprobates,  every  one  of  whom  is  responsible  for  all 
the  rest. 

There  is  a  vast  difference  between  Jesuits  and  all  their  op- 
ponents. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  you  compose  one 
body,  united  under  one  head  ;  and  your  regulations,  as  I  have 
shown,  prohibit  you  from  printing  anything  without  the  ap- 
probation of  your  superiors,  who  are  responsible  for  all  the 
errors  of  individual  writers,  and  who  "  cannot  excuse  them- 
selves by  saying  that  they  did  not  observe  the  errors  in  any 
publication,  for  they  ought  to  have  observed  them."  So  say 
your  ordinances,  and  so  say  the  letters  of  your  generals, 

»  "  This  book  of  the  Holy  Virginity  was  a  translation  from  St.  Au- 
gustine, made  by  Father  Seguenot.  priest  of  the  Oratory.  So  far,  all 
was  right ;  but  the  priest  had  added  to  the  original  text  some  odd  and 
peculiar  remarks  of  his  own,  which  merited  censure.  As  the  publica- 
tion came  from  the  Oratory,  a  community  always  attached  to  the  doc- 
trine of  St.  Augustine,  an  attempt  was  made  to  throw  the  blame  oa 
those  called  JansenisU."  (Note  by  Nicole,  iv.  332.) 
15* 


846  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

Aquaviva,  Vitelleschi,  &c.  We  have  good  reason,  therefore, 
for  charging  upon  you  the  errors  of  your  associates,  when  we 
find  they  are  sanctioned  by  your  superiors  and  the  divines  of 
your  Society.  With  me,  however,  father,  the  case  stands 
otherwise.  I  have  not  subscribed  the  book  of  the  Holy  Vir- 
ginity. All  the  alms-boxes  in  Paris  may  be  broken  into,  and 
yet  I  am  not  the  less  a  good  Catholic  for  all  that.  In  short, 
I  beg  to  inform  you,  in  the  plainest  terms,  that  nobody  is  re- 
sponsible for  my  letters  but  myself,  and  that  I  am  responsi- 
ble for  nothing  but  my  letters. 

Here,  father,  I  might  fairly  enough  have  brought  our  dis- 
pute to  an  issue,  without  saying  a  word  about  those  other 
persons  whom  you  stigmatize  as  heretics,  in  order  to  compre- 
hend me  under  that  condemnation.  But  as  I  have  been  the 
occasion  of  their  ill  treatment,  I  consider  myself  bound  in 
some  sort  to  improve  the  occasion,  and  I  shall  take  advantage 
of  it  in  three  particulars.  One  advantage,  not  inconsiderable 
in  its  way,  is  that  it  will  enable  me  to  vindicate  the  innocence 
of  so  many  calumniated  individuals.  Another,  not  inappro- 
priate to  my  subject,  will  be  to  disclose,  at  the  same  time, 
the  artifices  of  your  policy  in  this  accusation.  But  the  ad- 
vantage which  I  prize  most  of  all  this,  that  it  affords  me  an 
opportunity  of  apprizing  the  world  of  the  falsehood  of  that 
scandalous  report  which  you  have  been  so  busily  dissemina- 
ting, namely,  "  that  the  Church  is  divided  by  a  new  heresy." 
And  as  you  are  deceiving  multitudes  into  the  belief  that  the 
points  on  which  you  are  raising  such  a  storm  are  essential  to 
the  faith,  I  consider  it  of  the  last  importance  to  quash  these 
unfounded  impressions,  and  distinctly  to  explain  here  what 
these  points  are,  so  as  to  show  that,  in  point  of  fact,  there 
are  no  heretics  in  the  Church. 

I  presume,  then,  that  were  the  question  to  be  asked, 
Wherein  consists  the  heresy  of  those  called  Jansenists  ?  the 
immediate  reply  would  be,  "  These  people  hold  that  the  com- 
mandments of  God  are  impracticable  to  men — that  grace  is 
irresistible — that  we  have  not  free  will  to  do  either  good  or 
evil — that  Jesus  Christ  did  not  die  for  all  men,  but  only  for 


THE    FIVE    PROPOSITIONS,  347 

the  elect ;  in  short,  they  maintain  the  five  propositions  con- 
demned by  the  pope."  Do  you  not  give  it  out  to  all  that 
this  is  the  ground  on  which  you  persecute  your  opponents  ? 
Have  you  not  said  as  much  in  your  books,  in  your  conversa- 
tions, in  your  catechisms  ?  A  specimen  of  this  you  gave  at 
the  late  Christmas  festival  at  St.  Louis.  One  of  your  little 
shepherdesses  was  questioned  thus : — 

"  For  whom  did  Jesus  Christ  come  into  the  world,  my 
dear?" 

"  For  all  men,  father." 

"  Indeed,  my  child ;  so  you  are  not  one  of  those  new  her- 
etics who  say  that  he  came  only  for  the  elect  ?" 

Thus  children  are  led  to  believe  you,  and  many  others  be- 
side children ;  for  you  entertain  people  with  the  same  stuff 
in  your  sermons,  as  Father  Crasset  did  at  Orleans,  before  he 
was  laid  under  an  interdict.  And  I  frankly  own  that,  at  one 
time,  I  believed  you  myself.  You  had  given  me  precisely 
the  same  idea  of  these  good  people ;  so  that  when  you 
pressed  them  on  these  propositions,  I  narrowly  watched  their 
answer,  determined  never  to  see  them  more,  if  they  did  not 
renounce  them  as  palpable  impieties. 

This,  however,  they  have  done  in  the  most  unequivocal 
way.  M.  de  Sainte-Beuve,*  king's  professor  hi  the  Sorbonne, 
censured  these  propositions  hi  his  published  writings  long  be- 
fore the  pope ;  and  other  Augustinian  doctors,  in  various 
publications,  and,  among  others,  in  a  work  "  On  Victorious 
Grace,"f  reject  the  same  articles  as  both  heretical  and  strange 
doctrines.  In  the  preface  to  that  work  they  say  that  these 
propositions  are  "  heretical  and  Lutheran,  forged  and  fabrica- 
ted at  pleasure,  and  are  neither  to  be  found  in  Jansenius,  nor 

*  "  M.  Jacques  de  Sainte-Beuve,  one  of  the  ablest  divines  of  his  age, 
preferred  to  relinquish  his  chair  in  the  Sorbonne  rather  than  concur  in 
the  censure  of  M.  Arnauld,  whose  orthodoxy  he  regarded  as  beyond 
suspicion.  He  died  IP  1677."  (Note  by  Nicole.) 

f  This  work  was  entitled  "  On  the  Victorious  Grace  of  Jesus  Christ ; 
or,  Molina  and  his  followers  convicted  of  the  error  of  the  Pelagians  and 
Semi-Pelagians.  By  the  Sieur  de  Bonlieu.  Paris,  1631."  The  real 
author  was  the  celebrated  M.  de  1  aLane.  well  known  in  that  contro- 
versy. (Wite  by  Nicole.) 


848  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

in  his  defenders."  They  complain  of  being  charged  with  such 
sentiments,  and  address  you  in  the  words  of  St.  Prosper,  the 
first  disciple  of  St.  Augustine  their  master,  to  whom  the 
semi-Pelagians  of  France  had  ascribed  similar  opinions,  with 
the  view  of  bringing  him  into  disgrace :  "  There  are  persons 
who  denounce  us,  so  blinded  by  passion  that  they  have 
adopted  means  for  doing  so  which  ruin  their  own  reputation. 
They  have,  for  this  purpose,  fabricated  propositions  of  the 
most  impious  and  blasphemous  character,  which  they  indus- 
triously circulate,  to  make  people  believe  that  we  maintain 
them  in  the  wicked  sense  which  they  are  pleased  to  attach  to 
them.  But  our  reply  will  show  at  once  our  innocence,  and  the 
malignity  of  these  persons  who  have  ascribed  to  us  a  set  of  im- 
pious tenets,  of  which  they  are  themselves  the  sole  inventors." 

Truly,  father,  when  I  found  that  they  had  spoken  in  this 
way  before  the  appearance  of  the  papal  constitution — when 
I  saw  that  they  afterwards  received  that  decree  with  all  pos- 
sible respect,  that  they  offered  to  subscribe  it,  and  that  M. 
Arnauld  Lad  declared  all  this  in  his  second  letter,  in  stronger 
terms  than  I  can  report  him,  I  should  have  considered  it  a  sin 
to  doubt  their  soundness  in  the  faith.  And,  in  fact,  those 
who  were  formerly  disposed  to  refuse  absolution  to  M.  Ar- 
nauld's  friends,  have  since  declared,  that  after  his  explicit  dis- 
claimer of  the  errors  imputed  to  him,  there  was  no  reason 
left  for  cutting  off  either  him  or  them  from  the  communion 
of  the  Church.  Your  associates,  however,  have  acted  very 
differently ;  and  it  was  this  that  made  me  begin  to  suspect 
that  you  were  actuated  by  prejudice. 

You  threatened  first  to  compel  them  to  sign  that  consti- 
tution, so  long  as  you  thought  they  would  resist  it ;  but  no 
sooner  did  you  see  them  quite  rtady  of  their  own  accord  to 
submit  to  it,  than  we  heard  no  more  about  this.  Still,  how- 
ever,  though  one  might  suppose  this  ought  to  have  satisfied 
you,  you  persisted  in  calling  them  heretics,  "  because,"  said 
you,  "  their  heart  belies  their  hand  ;  they  are  Catholics  out- 
wardly, but  inwardly  they  are  heretjps,"* 

»  Reponse  a  quelques  demandeg,  pp.  27,  47, 


THE    FIVE    PROPOSITIONS.  349 

This,  father,  struck  me  as  very  strange  reasoning;  for 
where  is  the  person  of  whom  as  much  may  not  be  said  at 
any  time  ?  And  what  endless  trouble  and  confusion  would 
ensue,  were  it  allowed  to  go  on !  "  If,"  says  Pope  St.  Gre- 
gory, "  we  refuse  to  believe  a  confession  of  faith  made  in 
conformity  to  the  sentiments  of  the  Church,  we  cast  a  doubt 
over  the  faith  of  all  Catholics  whatsoever."  I  am  afraid, 
father,  to  use  the  words  of  the  same  pontiff,  when  speaking 
of  a  similar  dispute  in  his  time,  "that  your  object  is  to  make 
these  persons  heretics  in  spite  of  themselves ;  because  to 
refuse  to  credit  those  who  testify  by  their  confession  that 
they  are  in  the  true  faith,  is  not  to  purge  heresy,  but  to 
create  it — hoc  non  est  hceresim  purgare,  sed  facere.  But 
what  confirmed  me  in  my  persuasion  that  there  was  indeed 
no  heretic  in  the  Church,  was  finding  that  our  so-called  her- 
etics had  vindicated  themselves  so  successfully,  that  you 
were  unable  to  accuse  them  of  a  single  error  in  the  faith,  and 
that  you  were  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  assailing  them  on 
questions  of  fact  only,  touching  Jansenius,  which  could  not 
possibly  be  construed  into  heresy.  You  insist,  it  now  ap- 
pears, on  their  being  compelled  to  acknowledge  "  that  these 
propositions  are  contained  in  Jansenius,  word  for  word,  every 
one  of  them,  in  so  many  terras,"  or,  as  you  express  it, 
Singulares,  individuce,  totidem  verbis  apud  Jansenium  con- 
tents. 

Thenceforth  your  dispute  became,  in  my  eyes,  perfectly 
indifferent.  So  long  as  I  believed  that  you  were  debating 
the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  propositions,  I  was  all  attention, 
for  that  quarrel  touched  the  faith  ;  but  when  I  discovered 
that  the  bone  of  contention  was  whether  they  were  to  be 
found,  word  for  word,  in  Jansenius  or  not,  as  religion  ceased 
to  be  interested  in  the  controversy,  I  ceased  to  be  interested 
in  it  also.  Not  but  that  there  was  some  presumption  that 
that  you  were  speaking  the  truth  ;  because  to  say  that  such 
and  such  expressions  are  to  be  found,  word  for  word,  in  an 
author,  is  a  matter  in  which  there  can  be  no  mistake.  I  do 
not  wonder,  therefore,  that  so  many  people,  both  in  France 


350  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

and  at  Rome,  should  have  been  led  to  believe,  on  the  authcr- 
ity  of  a  phrase  so  little  liable  to  suspicion,  that  Jansenius  has 
actually  taught  these  obnoxious  tenets.  And  for  the  same 
reason,  I  was  not  a  little  surprised  to  learn  that  this  same 
point  of  fact,  which  you  had  propounded  as  so  certain  and 
so  important,  was  false ;  and  that  after  being  challenged  to 
quote  the  pages  of  Jansenius,  in  which  you  had  found  these 
propositions  "  word  for  word,"  you  have  not  been  able  to 
point  them  out  to  this  day. 

I  am  the  more  particular  in  giving  this  statement,  because, 
in  my  opinion,  h.  discovers,  in  a  very  striking  light,  the  spirit 
of  your  Society  in  the  whole  of  this  affair ;  and  because  some 
people  will  be  astonished  to  find  that,  notwithstanding  all 
the  facts  above  mentioned,  you  have  not  ceased  to  publish 
that  they  are  heretics  stiii.  But  you  have  only  altered  the 
heresy  to  suit  the  time ;  for  no  sooner  had  they  freed  them- 
selves from  one  charge  than  your  fathers,  determined  that 
they  should  never  want  an  accusation,  substituted  another  in 
its  place.  Thus,  in  1653,  their  heresy  lay  in  the  quality  of 
the  propositions  ;  then  came  the  word  for  word  heresy ; 
after  that,  we  had  the  heart  heresy.  And  now  we  hear 
nothing  of  any  of  these,  and  they  must  be  heretics,  forsooth, 
unless  they  sign  a  declaration  to  the  effect,  "  that  the  sense 
of  the  doctrine  of  Jansenius  is  contained  in  the  sense  of  the 
Jive  propositions" 

Such  is  your  present  dispute.  It  is  not  enough  for  you 
that  they  condemn  the  five  propositions,  and  everything  in 
Jansenius  that  bears  any  resemblance  to  them,  or  is  con- 
trary to  St.  Augustine ;  for  all  that  they  have  done  already. 
The  point  at  issue  is  not,  for  example,  if  Jesus  Christ  died 
for  the  elect  only — they  condemn  that  as  much  as  you  do ; 
but,  is  Jansenius  of  that  opinion,  or  not  ?  And  here  I  de- 
clare, more  strongly  than  ever,  that  your  quarrel  affects  me 
as  little  as  it  affects  the  Church.  For  although  I  am  no 
doctor,  any  more  than  you,  father,  I  can  easily  see,  neverthe- 
less, that  it  has  no  connection  with  the  faith.  The  only 
question  is,  to  ascertain  what  is  the  sense  of  Jansenius.  Did 


THE    FIVE    tAOPOSITIONS.  351 

they  believe  that  hw  doctrine  corresponded  to  the  proper 
and  literal  sense  of  these  propositions,  they  would  condemn 
it ;  and  they  refuse  to  do  so,  because  they  are  convinced  it  is 
quite  the  reverse  ;  so  that  although  they  should  misunder- 
stand it,  still  they  would  not  be  heretics,  seeing  they  un- 
derstand it  only  in  a  Catholic  sense. 

To  illustrate  this  by  an  example,  I  may  refer  to  the  con- 
flic'  Ing  sentiments  of  St.  Basil  and  St.  Athanasius,  regarding 
.ae  writings  of  St.  Denis  of  Alexandria,  which  St.  Basil, 
conceiving  that  he  found  in  them  the  sense  of  Arius  against 
the  equality  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  condemned  as  heret- 
ical, out  which  St.  Athanasius,  on  the  other  hand,  judging 
them  to  contain  the  genuine  sense  of  the  Church,  maintained 
to  be  perfectly  orthodox.  Think  you,  then,  father,  that  St. 
Basil,  who  held  these  writings  to  be  Arian,  had  a  right  to 
brand  St.  Athanasius  as  a  heretic,  because  he  defended 
them  ?  And  what  ground  would  he  have  had  for  so  doing, 
seeing  that  it  was  not  Arianism  that  his  brother  defended, 
but  the  true  faith  which  he  considered  these  writings  to  con- 
tain ?  Had  these  two  saints  agreed  about  the  true  sense  of 
these  writings,  and  bad  both  recognized  this  heresy  in  them, 
unquestionably  St.  Athanasius  could  not  have  approved  of 
them,  without  being  guilty  of  heresy ;  but  as  they  were  at 
variance  respecting  the  sense  of  the  passages,  St.  Athanasius 
was  orthodox  in  vindicating  them,  even  though  he  may  have 
understood  them  wrong  ;  because  in  that  case  it  would  have 
been  merely  an  error  in  a  matter  of  fact,  and  because  what 
b.p  defended  was  really  the  Catholic  faith,  which  he  supposed 
to  be  contained  in  these  writings. 

I  ".pply  this  to  you,  father.  Suppose  you  were  agreed 
upon  the  sense  of  Jansenius,  and  your  adversaries  were  ready 
to  admit  witu  you  that  he  held,  for  example,  that  grace  can- 
not be  resisted  ;  those  who  refused  to  condemn  him  would  be 
heretical.  But  as  your  dispute  turns  upon  the  meaning  of 
that  author,  and  they  believe  that,  according  to  his  doctrine, 
grace  may  be  resisted,  whatever  heresy  you  may  be  pleased 
to  attribute  to  him,  you  have  no  ground  to  brand  them  as 


852  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

heretics,  seeing  they  condemn  the  sense  which  you  put  on 
Jansenius,  and  you  dare  not  condemn  the  sense  which  they 
put  on  him.  If,  therefore,  you  mean  to  convict  them,  show 
that  the  sense  which  they  ascribe  to  Jansenius  is  heretical ; 
for  then  they  will  be  heretical  themselves.  But  how  could 
you  accomplish  this,  since  it  is  certain,  according  to  your 
own  showing,  that  the  meaning  which  they  give  to  his  lan- 
guage has  never  been  condemned  ? 

To  elucidate  the  point  still  further,  I  shall  assume  as  a 
principle,  what  you  yourselves  acknowledge — that  the  doc- 
trine of  efficacious  grace  has  never  been  condemned,  and  that 
the  pope  has  not  touched  it  by  his  constitution.  And,  in  fact, 
when  he  proposed  to  pass  judgment  on  the  five  propositions, 
the  question  of  efficacious  grace  was  protected  against  all 
censure.  This  is  perfectly  evident  from  the  judgments  of 
the  consulters,*  to  whom  the  pope  committed  them  for  exam- 
ination. These  judgments  I  have  in  my  possession,  in  com- 
mon with  many  other  persons  in  Paris,  and,  among  the  rest, 
the  Bishop  of  Montpelier.f  who  brought  them  from  Rome. 
It  appears  from  this  document,  that  they  were  divided  in 
their  sentiments  ;  that  the  chief  persons  among  them,  such  as 
the  Master  of  the  Sacred  Palace,  the  Commissary  of  the 
Holy  Office,  the  General  of  the  Augustinians,  and  others, 
conceiving  that  these  propositions  might  be  understood  in  the 
sense  of  efficacious  grace,  were  of  opinion  that  they  ought  not 
to  be  censured ;  whereas  the  rest,  while  they  agreed  that  the 
propositions  would  not  have  merited  condemnation,  had  they 
borne  that  sense,  judged  that  they  ought  to  be  censured,  be- 
cause, as  they  contended,  this  was  very  far  from  being  their 
proper  and  natural  sense.  The  pope,  accordingly,  con- 

*  These  judgments,  or  Vota  Consultorum,  as  they  were  called,  have 
been  often  printed,  and  particularly  at  the  end  of  the  Journal  de  M.  tie 
St.  Amour— &  book  essentially  necessary  to  the  right  understanding  of 
all  the  intrigues  employed  in  the  condemnation  of  Jansenius.  (Note 
by  Nicole.) 

f  This  was  Francis  du  Bosquet,  who.  from  being  Bishop  of  Lodeve, 
was  made  Bishop  of  Montpelier  in  1655,  and  died  in  1676.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  learned  bishops  of  bis  time  in  ecclesiastical  matters.  (Note 
by  Nicole.) 


THE    FIVE    JBOPOSITIONS.  353 

demned  them ;  and  all  parties  have  acquiesced  in  lib  judg- 
ment. 

It  is  certain,  then,  father,  that  efficacious  grace  has  not 
been  condemned.  Indeed,  it  is  so  powerfully  supported  by 
St.  Augustine,  by  St.  Thomas,  and  all  his  school,  by  a  great 
many  popes  and  councils,  and  by  all  tradition,  that  to  tax  it 
with  heresy  would  be  an  act  of  impiety.  Now,  all  those 
whom  you  condemn  as  heretics  declare  that  they  find  nothing 
in  Jansenius,  but  this  doctrine  of  efficacious  grace.  And  this 
was  the  only  point  which  they  maintained  at  Rome.  You 
have  acknowledged  this  yourself,  when  you  declare  that, 
"  when  pleading  before  the  pope,  they  did  not  say  a  single 
word  about  the  propositions,  but  occupied  the  whole  time  in 
talking  about  efficacious  grace."*  So  that  whether  they  be 
right  or  wrong  in  this  supposition,  it  is  undeniable,  at  least, 
that  what  they  suppose  to  be  the  sense  is  not  heretical  sense ; 
and  that,  consequently,  they  are  no  heretics  :  for,  to  state  the 
matter  in  two  words,  either  Jansenius  has  merely  taught  the 
doctrine  of  efficacious  grace,  and  in  this  case  he  has  no 
errors  ;  or  he  has  taught  some  other  thing,  and  in  this  case 
he  has  no  defenders.  The  whole  question  turns  on  ascertain- 
ing whether  Jansenius  has  actually  maintained  something 
different  from  efficacious  grace ;  and  should  it  be  found  that 
he  has,  you  will  have  the  honor  of  having  better  understood 
him,  but  they  will  not  have  the  misfortune  of  having  erred 
from  the  faith. 

It  is  matter  of  thankfulness  to  God,  then,  father,  that  there 
is  in  reality  no  heresy  in  the  Church.  The  question  relates 
entirely  to  a  point  of  fact,  of  which  no  heresy  can  be  made  ; 
for  the  Church,  with  divine  authority,  decides  the  points  of 
faith,  and  cuts  off  from  her  body  all  who  refuse  to  receive 
them.  But  she  does  not  act  in  the  same  manner  in  regard 
to  matters  of  fact.  And  the  reason  is,  that  our  salvation  is 
attached  to  the  faith  which  has  been  revealed  to  us,  and 
which  is  preserved  in  the  Church  by  tradition,  but  that  it 
has  no  dependence  on  facts  which  have  not  been  revealed 
*  Cavill,  p.  35. 


354  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

by  God.  Thus  we  are  bound  to  believe  that  the  command- 
ments of  God  are  not  impracticable ;  but  we  are  under  no 
obligation  to  know  what  Jansenius  has  said  upon  that  sub- 
ject. In  the  determination  of  points  of  faith  God  guides  the 
Church  by  the  aid  of  his  unerring  Spirit ;  whereas  in  matters 
of  fact,  he  leaves  her  to  the  direction  of  reason  and  the 
senses,  which  are  the  natural  judges  of  such  matters.  None 
but  God  was  able  to  instruct  the  Church  in  the  faith ;  but  to 
learn  whether  this  or  that  proposition  is  contained  in  Janse- 
nius, all  we  require  to  do  is  to  read  his  book.  And  from  hence 
it  follows,  that  while  it  is  heresy  to  resist  the  decisions  of  the 
faith,  because  this  amounts  to  an  opposing  of  our  own  spirit 
to  the  Spirit  of  God,  it  is  no  heresy,  though  it  may  be  an  act 
of  presumption,  to  disbelieve  certain  particular  facts,  because 
this  is  no  more  than  opposing  reason — it  may  be  enlightened 
reason — to  an  authority  which  is  great  indeed,  but  in  this  mat- 
ter not  infallible. 

What  I  have  now  advanced  is  admitted  by  all  theologians, 
as  appears  from  the  following  axiom  of  Cardinal  Bellarmine, 
a  member  of  your  Society  :  "  General  and  lawful  councils 
are  incapable  of  error  in  defining  the  dogmas  of  faith  ;  but 
they  may  err  in  questions  of  fact."  In  another  place  he 
says  :  "  The  pope,  as  pope,  and  even  as  the  head  of  a  uni- 
versal council,  may  err  in  particular  controversies  of  fact, 
which  depend  principally  on  the  information  and  testimony 
of  men."  Cardinal  Baronius  speaks  in  the  same  manner : 
"  Implicit  submission  is  due  to  the  decisions  of  councils  in 
points  of  faith  ;  but,  in  so  far  as  persons  and  their  writings 
are  concerned,  the  censures  which  have  been  pronounced 
*gainst  them  have  not  been  so  rigorously  observed,  because 
there  is  none  who  may  not  chance  to  be  deceived  in  such 
matters."  I  may  add  that,  to  prove  this  point,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Toulouse*  has  deduced  the  following  rule  from  the 
letters  of  two  great  popes — St.  Leon  and  Pelagius  II. :  "  That 

*  M.  de  Marca,  an  illustrious  prelate,  who  was  Archbishop  of  Tou- 
louse, before  he  was  nominated  to  the  see  of  Paris,  of  which  he  was 
only  prevented  by  death  frr,na  talcing  possession.  (Nicole.) 


POPES    FALLIBLE    IN    MATTEKS    OF    FACT.  355 

the  proper  object  of  councils  is  the  faith  ;  and  whatsoever  is 
determined  by  them,  independently  of  the  faith,  may  be  re- 
viewed and  examined  anew  :  whereas  nothing  ought  to  be  re- 
examined  that  has  been  decided  in  a  matter  of  faith ;  be- 
cause, as  Tertullian  observes,  the  rule  of  faith  alone  is  immov- 
able and  irrevocable." 

Hence  it  has  been  seen  that,  while  general  and  lawful 
councils  have  never  contradicted  one  another  in  points  of 
faith,  because,  as  M.  de  Toulouse  has  said,  "  it  is  not  allowa- 
ble to  examine  de  navo  decisions  in  matters  of  faith ;"  several 
instances  have  occurred  in  which  these  same  councils  have 
disagreed  in  points  of  fact,  where  the  discussion  turned  upon 
the  sense  of  an  author ;  because,  as  the  same  prelate  ob- 
serves, quoting  the  popes  as  his  authorities,  "  everything  de- 
termined in  councils,  not  referring  to  the  faith,  may  be  re- 
viewed and  examined  de  novo."  An  example  of  this  contrariety 
was  furnished  by  the  fourth  and  fifth  councils,  which  differed 
in  their  interpretation  of  the  same  authors.  The  same  thing 
happened  in  the  case  of  two  popes,  about  a  proposition  main- 
tained by  certain  monks  of  Scythia.  Pope  Hormisdas,  under- 
standing it  in  a  bad  sense,  had  condemned  it ;  but  Pope  John 
II.,  his  successor,  upon  re-examining  the  doctrine,  understood 
it  in  a  good  sense,  approved  it,  and  pronounced  it  to  be  or- 
thodox. Would  you  say  that  for  this  reason  one  of  these 
popes  was  a  heretic  ?  And  must  you  not,  consequently,  ac- 
knowledge that,  provided  a  person  condemn  the  heretical 
sense  which  a  pope  may  have  ascribed  to  a  book,  he  is  no 
heretic  because  he  declines  condemning  that  book,  while  he 
understands  it  in  a  sense  which  it  is  certain  the  pope  has  not 
condemned  ?  If  this  cannot  be  admitted,  one  of  these  popes 
must  have  fallen  into  error. 

I  have  been  anxious  to  familiarize  you  with  these  discrep- 
ancies among  Catholics  regarding  questions  of  fact,  which 
involve  the  understanding  of  the  sense  of  a  writer,  showing 
you  father  against  father,  pope  against  pope,  and  council 
against  council,  to  lead  you  from  these  to  other  examples  of 
opposition,  similar  in  their  nature,  but  somewhat  more  dis- 


356  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

proportioned  in  respect  of  the  parties  concerned.  For,  in  the 
instances  I  am  now  to  adduce,  you  will  see  councils  and  popes 
ranged  oil  one  side,  and  Jesuits  on  the  other ;  and  yet  you 
have  never  charged  your  brethren,  for  this  opposition,  even 
with  presumption,  much  less  with  heresy. 

You  are  well  aware,  father,  that  the  writings  of  Origen 
were  condemned  by  a  great  many  popes  and  councils,  and 
particularly  by  the  fifth  general  council,  as  chargeable  with 
certain  heresies,  and,  among  others,  that  of  the  reconciliation 
of  the  devils  at  the  day  of  judgment.  Do  you  suppose  that, 
after  this,  it  became  absolutely  imperative,  as  a  test  of  Ca- 
tholicism, to  confess  that  Origen  actually  maintained  these 
errors,  and  that  it  is  not  enough  to  condemn  them,  without 
attributing  them  to  him  ?  If  this  were  true,  what  would 
become  of  your  worthy  Father  Halloix,  who  has  asserted  the 
purity  of  Origen's  faith,  as  well  as  many  other  Catholics,  who 
have  attempted  the  same  thing,  such  as  Pico  Mirandola,  and 
Genebrard,  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne  ?  Is  it  not,  moreover,  a 
certain  fact,  that  the  same  fifth  general  council  condemned 
the  writings  of  Theodoret  against  St.  Cyril,  describing  them 
as  impious,  "  contrary  to  the  true  faith,  and  tainted  with  the 
Nestorian  heresy  ?"*  And  yet  this  has  not  prevented  Father 
Strmond,f  a  Jesuit,  from  defending  him,  or  from  saying,  in 
his  life  of  that  father,  that  "  his  writings  are  entirely  free  from 
the  heresy  of  Nestorius." 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  as  the  Church,  in  condemning 
a  book,  assumes  that  the  error  which  she  condemns  is  con- 
tained in  that  book,  it  is  a  point  of  faith  to  hold  that  error  as 

*  Nestorian  heresy — so  called  from  Nestorius,  Bishop  of  Constanti- 
nople, in  the  fifth  century,  who  was  accused  of  dividing  Christ  into  two 
persons;  in  other  words,  representing  his  human  nature  a  distinct  per- 
son from  his  divine.  There  is  some  reason  to  think,  however,  that  he 
was  quite  sound  in  the  faith,  and  that  his  real  offence  was  his  opposi- 
tion to  the  use  of  the  phrase,  which  then  came  into  vogue,  the  Mother 
of  God.  as  applied  to  the  Virgin,  whom  he  called,  in  preference,  the 
Mother  of  Christ. 

t  This  was  James  Sirmond  (the  uncle  of  Anthony,  formerly  men- 
tioned), a  learned  Jesuit,  and  confessor  to  Louis  XIII.  He  was  dis- 
tinguished as  an  ecclesiastical  historian.  (Tableau  de  la  Litt.  Fran.. 


POINTS    OF   FAITH   AND   FACT.  357 

condemned  ;  but  it  is  not  a  point  of  faith  to  hold  that  the 
book,  in  fact,  contains  the  error  which  the  Church  supposes 
it  does.  Enough  has  been  said,  I  think,  to  prove  this;  I 
shall,  therefore,  conclude  my  examples  by  referring  to  that 
of  Pope  Honorius,  the  history  of  which  is  so  well  known. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  seventh  century,  the  Church 
being  troubled  by  the  heresy  of  the  Monothelites,*  that  pope, 
with  the  view  of  terminating  the  controversy,  passed  a  decree 
which  seemed  favorable  to  these  heretics,  at  which  many  took 
offence.  The  affair,  nevertheless,  passed  over  without  mak- 
ing much  disturbance  during  his  pontificate  ;  but  fifty  years 
after,  the  Church  being  assembled  in  the  sixth  general  coun- 
cil, in  which  Pope  Agathon  presided  by  his  legates,  this  de- 
cree was  impeached,  and,  after  being  read  and  examined,  was 
condemned  as  containing  the  heresy  of  the  Monothelites,  and 
under  that  character  burnt,  in  open  court,  along  with  the 
other  writings  of  these  heretics.  Such  was  the  respect  paid 
to  this  decision,  and  such  the  unanimity  with  which  it  was 
received  throughout  the  whole  Church,  that  it  was  afterwards 
ratified  by  two  other  general  councils,  and  likewise  by  two 
popes,  Leon  II.  and  Adrian  II.,  the  latter  of  whom  lived  two 
hundred  years  after  it  had  passed ;  and  this  universal  and 
harmonious  agreement  remained  undisturbed  for  seven  or 
eight  centuries.  Of  late  years,  however,  some  authors,  and 
among  the  rest  Cardinal  Bellarmine,  without  seeming  to  dread 
the  imputation  of  heresy,  have  stoutly  maintained,  against  all 
this  array  of  popes  and  councils,  that  the  writings  of  Hono- 
rius are  free  from  the  error  which  had  been  ascribed  to  them  ; 
"  because,"  says  the  cardinal,  "  general  councils  being  liable 
to  err  in  questions  of  fact,  we  have  the  best  grounds  for 
asserting  that  the  sixth  council  was  mistaken  with  regard  to 
the  fact  now  under  consideration  ;  and  that,  misconceiving 
the  sense  of  the  Letters  of  Honorius,  it  has  placed  this  pope 
most  unjustly  in  the  ranks  of  heretics."  Observe,  then,  I 

*  The  Monothelites,  who  arose  in  the  seventh  century,  were  so  called 
from  holding  that  there  was  but  one  will  in  Christ,  his  human  will  be- 
ing absorbed,  as  it  were,  in  the  divine. 


358  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

pray  you,  father,  that  a  man  is  not  heretical  for  saying  that 
Pope  Honorius  was  not  a  heretic ;  even  though  a  great  many 
popes  and  councils,  after  examining  his  writings,  should  have 
declared  that  he  was  so. 

I  now  come  to  the  question  before  us,  and  shall  allow  you 
to  state  your  case  as  favorably  as  you  can.  What  will  you 
then  say,  father,  in  order  to  stamp  your  opponents  as  heretics  ? 
That  "  Pope  Innocent  X.  has  declared  that  the  error  of  the 
five  propositions  is  to  be  found  in  Jansenius  ?"  I  grant  you 
that;  what  inference  do  you  draw  from  it?  That  "it  is 
heretical  to  deny  that  the  error  of  the  five  propositions  is  to 
be  found  in  Jansenius  ?"  How  so,  father  ?  have  we  not  here 
a  question  of  fact,  exactly  similar  to  the  preceding  examples  ? 
The  pope  has  declared  that  the  error  of  the  five  propositions 
is  contained  in  Jansenius,  in  the  same  way  as  his  predecessors 
decided  that  the  errors  of  the  Nestorians  and  the  Monothe- 
lites  polluted  the  pages  of  Theodoret  and  Honorius.  In  the 
latter  case,  your  writers  hesitate  not  to  say,  that  while  they 
condemn  the  heresies,  they  do  not  allow  that  these  authors 
actually  maintained  them ;  and,  in  like  manner,  your  oppo- 
nents now  say,  that  they  condemn  the  five  propositions,  but 
cannot  admit  that  Jansenius  has  taught  them.  Truly,  the 
two  cases  are  as  like  as  they  could  well  be ;  and  if  there  be 
any  disparity  between  them,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  far  it  must 
go  in  favor  of  the  present  question,  by  a  comparison  of  many 
particular  circumstances,  which,  as  they  are  self-evident,  I  do 
not  specify.  How  comes  it  to  pass,  then,  that  when  placed 
in  precisely  the  same  predicament,  your  friends  are  Catholics 
and  your  opponents  heretics  ?  On  what  strange  principle 
of  exception  do  you  deprive  the  latter  of  a  liberty  which  you 
freely  award  to  all  the  rest  of  the  faithful  ?  What  answer 
will  you  make  to  this,  father  ?  Will  you  say,  "  The  pope 
has  confirmed  his  constitution  by  a  brief."  To  this  I  would 
reply,  that  two  general  councils  and  two  popes  confirmed  the 
condemnation  of  the  Letters  of  Honorius.  But  what  argu- 
ment do  you  found  upon  the  language  of  that  brief,  in  which 
all  that  the  pope  says  is,  that  "  he  has  condemned  the  doc- 


THE    POPE    DECEIVED.  359 

trine  of  Jansenius  in  these  five  propositions  ?"  What  does 
that  add  to  the  constitution,  or  what  more  can  you  infer  from 
it  ?  Nothing  certainly,  except  that  as  the  sixth  council  con- 
demned the  doctrine  of  Honorius,  in  the  belief  that  it  was  the 
same  with  that  of  the  Monothelites,  so  the  pope  has  said 
that  he  has  condemned  the  doctrine  of  Jansenius  in  these  five 
propositions,  because  he  was  led  to  suppose  it  was  the  same 
with  that  of  the  five  propositions.  And  how  could  he  do 
otherwise  than  suppose  it  ?  Your  Society  published  nothing 
else ;  and  you,  yourself,  father,  who  have  asserted  that  the 
said  propositions  were  in  that  author  "  word  for  word,"  hap- 
pened to  be  in  Rome  (for  I  know  all  your  motions)  at  the 
time  when  the  censure  was  passed.  Was  he  to  distrust  the 
sincerity  or  the  competence  of  so  many  grave  ministers  of 
religion  ?  And  how  could  he  help  being  convinced  of  the 
fact,  after  the  assurance  which  you  had  given  him  that  the 
propositions  were  in  that  author  "  word  for  word  ?"  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  in  the  event  of  its  being  found  that 
Jansenius  has  not  supported  these  doctrines,  it  would  be 
wrong  to  say,  as  your  writers  have  done  in  the  cases  before 
mentioned,  that  the  pope  has  deceived  himself  in  this  point  of 
fact,  which  it  is  painful  and  offensive  to  publish  at  any  time ; 
the  proper  phrase  is,  that  you  have  deceived  the  pope,  which, 
as  you  are  now  pretty  well  known,  will  create  no  scandal. 
Determined,  however,  to  have  a  heresy  made  out,  let  it 
cost  what  it  may,  you  have  attempted,  by  the  following  ma- 
noeuvre, to  shift  the  question  from  the  point  of  fact,  and 
make  it  bear  upon  a  point  of  faith.  "  The  pope,"  say  you, 
"  declares  that  he  has  condemned  the  doctrine  of  Jansenius 
in  these  five  propositions ;  therefore  it  is  essential  to  the 
faith  to  hold  that  the  doctrine  of  Jansenius  touching  these 
five  propositions  is  heretical,  let  it  be  what  it  may."  Here  is 
a  strange  point  of  faith,  that  a  doctrine  is  heretical  be  what 
it  may.  What !  if  Jansenius  should  happen  to  maintain  that 
"  we  are  capable  of  resisting  internal  grace"  and  that  "  it  is 
false  to  say  that  Jesus  Christ  died  for  the  elect  only,"  would 
this  doctrine  be  condemned  just  because  it  is  his  doctrine  ? 


360  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

Will  the  proposition,  that  "  man  has  a  freedom  of  will  to  do 
good  or  evil,"  be  true  when  found  in  the  pope's  constitution, 
and  false  when  discovered  in  Jansenius  ?  By  what  fatality 
must  he  be  reduced  to  such  a  predicament,  that  truth,  when 
admitted  into  his  book,  becomes  heresy  ?  You  must  confess, 
then,  that  he  is  only  heretical  on  the  supposition  that  he  is 
friendly  to  the  errors  condemned,  seeing  that  the  constitution 
of  the  pope  is  the  rule  which  we  must  apply  to  Jansenius,  to 
judge  if  his  character  answer  the  description  there  given  of 
him  ;  and,  accordingly,  the  question,  /*  his  doctrine  heretical  ? 
must  be  resolved  by  another  question  of  fact,  Does  it  cor- 
respond to  the  natural  sense  of  these  propositions  ?  as  it  must 
necessarily  be  heretical  if  it  does  correspond  to  that  sense, 
and  must  necessarily  be  orthodox  if  it  be  of  an  opposite 
character.  For,  in  one  word,  since,  according  to  the  pope 
and  the  bishops,  "  the  propositions  are  condemned  in  their 
proper  and  natural  sense"  they  cannot  possibly  be  condemned 
in  the  sense  of  Jansenius,  except  on  the  understanding  that 
the  sense  of  Jansenius  is  the  same  with  the  proper  and  natu- 
ral sense  of  these  propositions ;  and  this  I  maintain  to  be 
purely  a  question  of  fact. 

The  question,  then,  still  rests  upon  the  point  of  fact,  and 
cannot  possibly  be  tortured  into  one  affecting  the  faith.  But 
though  incapable  of  twisting  it  into  a  matter  of  heresy,  you 
have  it  in  your  power  to  make  it  a  pretext  for  persecution, 
and  might,  perhaps,  succeed  in  this,  were  there  not  good 
reason  to  hope  that  nobody  will  be  found  so  blindly  devoted 
to  your  interests  as  to  countenance  such  a  disgraceful  pro- 
ceeding, or  inclined  to  compel  people,  as  you  wish  to  do,  to 
sign  a  declaration  that  they  condemn  these  propositions  in  the 
sense  of  Jansenius,  without  explaining  what  the  sense  of  Jan- 
senius is.  Few  people  are  disposed  to  sign  a  blank  confes- 
sion of  faith.  Now  this  would  really  be  to  sign  one  of  that 
description,  leaving  you  to  fill  up  the  blank  afterwards  with 
whatsoever  you  pleased,  as  you  would  be  at  liberty  to  inter- 
pret according  to  your  own  taste  the  unexplained  sense  of 
Jansenius.  Let  it  be  explained,  then,  beforehand,  otherwise 


THE    GRAND    OBJECT    OP   THE   JESUITS.  361 

we  shall  have,  I  fear,  another  version  of  your  proximate  power, 
without  any  sense  at  all— -abstrahendo  ab  omni  sensu.*  This 
mode  of  proceeding,  you  must  be  aware,  does  not  take  with 
the  world.  Men  in  general  detest  all  ambiguity,,  especially 
in  the  matter  of  religion,  where  it  is  highly  reasonable  that 
one  should  know  at  least  what  one  is  asked  to  condemn. 
And  how  is  it  possible  for  doctors,  who  are  persuaded  that 
Jansenius  can  bear  no  other  sense  than  that  of  efficacious 
grace,  to  consent  to  declare  that  they  condemn  his  doctrine 
without  explaining  it,  since,  with  their  present  convictions, 
which  no  means  are  used  to  alter,  this  would  be  neither  more 
nor  less  than  to  condemn  efficacious  grace,  which  cannot  be 
condemned  without  sin  ?  Would  it  not,  therefore,  be  a  piece 
of  monstrous  tyranny  to.  place  them,  in  such  an  unhappy 
dilemma,  that  they  must  either  bring  guilt  upon  their  souls 
in  the  sight  of  God,  by  signing  that  condemnation  against 
their  consciences,  or  be  denounced  as  heretics  for  refusing  to 
sign  it?f 

But  there  is  a  mystery  under  all  this.  You  Jesuits  can- 
not move  a  step  without  a  stratagem.  It  remains  for  me  to 
explain  why  you  do  not  explain  the  sense  of  Jansenius.  The 
sole  purpose  of  my  writing  is  to  discover  your  designs,  and, 
by  discovering,  to  frustrate  them.  I  must,  therefore,  inform 
those  who  are  not  already^  aware  of  the  fact,  that  your  great 
concern  in  this  dispute  being  to  uphold  the  sufficient  grace  of 
your  Molina,  you  could  not  effect  this  without  destroying  tho 
efjicacioits  grace  which  stands  directly  opposed  to  it.  Per- 
ceiving, however,  that  the  latter  was  now  sanctioned  at 
Rome,  and  by  all  the  learned  in  the  Church,  and  unable  to 
combat  the  doctrine  on  its  own.  merits,  you  resolved  to  attack 
it  in  a  clandestine  way,  under  the  name  of  the  doctrine  of 
Jansenius.  You  were  resolved,,  accordingly,  to  get  Jansenius 
condemned  without  explanation ;  and,  to  gain  your  purpose, 
gave  out  that  his  doctrine  was  not  that  of  efficacious  grace, 

*  See  Letter  i.,  p.  74. 

f  The  persecution  here  supposed  was  soon  lamentnbly  realized,  and 
exactly  in  the  wnr  which  our  author  seemed  to  think  impossible. 
18 


362  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

so  that  every  one  might  think  he  was  at  liberty  to  condemn 
the  one  -without  denying  the  other.  Hence  your  efforts,  in 
the  present  day,  to  impress  this  idea  upon,  the  minds  of  such 
as  have  n^  acquaintance  -with  that  author  ;  an  object  which 
you  yourself,  father,  have  attempted,  by  means  of  the  fol- 
lowing ingenious  syllogism  :  "  The  pope  has  condemned  the 
doctrine  of  Jansenius;  but  the  pope  has  not  condemned  effi- 
cacious grace  :  therefore,  the  doctrine  of  efficacious  grace 
must  be  different  from  that  of  Jansenius."*  If  this  mode  of 
reasoning  were  conclusive,  it  might  be  demonstrated  in  the 
same  way  that  Honorius  and  all  his  defenders  are  heretics 
of  the  same  kind.  "  The  sixth  council  has  condemned  the 
doctrine  of  Honorius ;  but  the  council  has  not  condemned  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church :  therefore  the  doctrine  of  Honorius 
is  different  from  that  of  the  Church ;  and  therefore  all  who 
defend  him  are  heretics."  It  'is  obvious  that  no  conclusion 
can  be  drawn  from  this;  for  the  pope  has  done  no  more  than 
condemned  the  doctrine  of  the  five  propositions,  which  was 
represented  to  him  as  the  doctrine  of  Jansenius. 

But  it  matters  not ;  you  have  no  intention  to  make  use 
of  this  logic  for  any  length  of  time.  Poor  as  it  is,  it  will  last 
sufficiently  long  to  serve  your  present  turn.  All  that  you 
wish  to  effect  by  it,  in  the  mean  time,  is  to  induce  those  who 
are  unwilling  to  condemn  efficacious  grace  to  condemn  Jan- 
senius with  the  less  scruple.  When  this  object  has  been 
accomplished,  your  argument  will  soon  be  forgotten,  and 
their  signatures  remaining  as  an  eternal  testimony  in  condem- 
nation of  Jansenius,  will  furnish  you  with  an  occasion  to  make 
a  direct  attack  upon  efficacious  grace,  by  another  mode  of 
reasoning  much  more  solid  than  the  former,  which  shall  be 
forthcoming  in  proper  time.  "The  doctrine  of  Jansenius," 
you  will  argue,  "  has  been  condemned  by  the  universal  sub- 
scriptions of  the  Church.  Now  this  doctrine  is  manifestly 
that  of  efficacious  grace"  (and  it  will  be  easy  for  you  to  prove 
that)  ;  "  therefore  the  doctrine  of  efficacious  grace  is  con- 
demned even  by  the  confession  of  his  defenders." 
*  Cavill,  p.  21 


THE    QKAND    OBJECT    OF    THE    JESUITS.  363 

Behold  your  reason  for  proposing  to  sign  the  condemnation 
of  a  doctrine  without  giving  an  explanation  of  it !  Behold 
the  advantage  you  expect  to  gain  from  subscriptions  thus 
procured  !  Should  your  opponents,  however,  refuse  to  sub- 
scribe, you  have  another  trap  laid  for  them.  Having  dexter- 
ously combined  the  question  of  faith  with  that  of  fact,  and 
not  allowing  them  to  separate  between  them,  nor  to  sign  the 
one  without  the  other,  the  consequence  will  be,  that,  because 
they  could  not  subscribe  the  two  together,  you  will  publish, 
it  in  all  directions  that  they  have  refused  the  two  together. 
And  thus  though,  in  point  of  fact,  they  simply  decline  ac- 
knowledging that  Jansenius  has  maintained  the  propositions 
which  they  condemn,  which  cannot  be  called  heresy,  you 
will  boldly  assert  that  they  have  refused  to  condemn  the 
propositions  themselves,  and  that  it  is  this  that  constitutes 
their  heresy. 

Such  is  the  fruit  which  you  expect  to  reap  from  their  re- 
fusal, and  which  will  be  no  less  useful  to  you  than  what  you 
might  have  gained  from  their  consent.  So  that,  in  the  event 
of  these  signatures  being  exacted,  they  will  fall  into  your 
snares,  whether  they  sign  or  not,  and  in  both  cases  you  will 
gain  your  point.;  such  is  your  dexterity  in  uniformly  putting 
matters  into  a  train  for  your  own  advantage,  whatever  bias 
they  may  happen  to  take  in  their  course  ! 

How  well  I  know  you,  father !  and  how  grieved  am  I  to 
see  that  God  has  abandoned  you  so  far  as  to  allow  you  such 
happy  success  in  such  an  unhappy  course  !  Your  good  for- 
tune deserves  commiseration,  and  can  excite  envy  only  in  the 
breasts  of  those  who  know  not  what  truly  good  fortune  is. 
It  is  an  act  of  charity  to  thwart  the  success  you  aim  at  in  the 
whole  of  this  proceeding,  seeing  that  you  can  only  reach  it 
by  the  aid  of  falsehood,  and  by  procuring  credit  to  one  of 
two  lies — either  that  the  Church  has  condemned  efficacious 
grace,  or  that  those  who  defend  that  doctrine  maintain  the 
five  condemned  errors. 

Tie  viKorld  must,  therefore,  be  apprized  of  tAvo  facts :  First, 
That,  %  your  own  confession,  efficacious  grace  has  not  been 


364  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

condemned ;  and  secondly,  That  nobody  supports  these  er- 
rors. So  that  it  may  be  known  that  those  who  may  refuse 
to  sign  what  you  are  so  anxious  to  exact  from  them,  refuse 
merely  in  consideration  of  the  question  .of  fact ;  and  that, 
being  quite  ready  to  subscribe  that  of  faith,  they  cannot  be 
deemed  heretical  on  that  account ;  because,  to  repeat  it  once 
more,  though  it  be  matter  of  faith  to  believe  these  proposi- 
tions to  be  heretical,  it  will  never  be  matter  of  faith  to  hold 
that  they  are  to  be  found  in  the  pages  of  Jansenius.  They 
are  innocent  of  all  error ;  that  is  enough.  .It  may  be  that 
they  interpret  Jansenius  too  favorably  ;  but  it  may  be  also 
that  you  do  not  interpret  him  favorably  enough.  I  do  not 
enter  upon  this  question.  All  that  I  know  is,  that,  according 
to  your  maxims,  you  believe  tnat  you  may,  without  sin,  pub- 
lish him  to  be  a  heretic  contrary  to  your  own  knowledge ; 
•whereas,  according  to  their  maxims,  they  cannot,  without 
sin,  declare  him  to  be  a  Catholic,  unless  they  are  persuaded 
that  he  is  one.  They  are,  therefore,  more  honest  than  you, 
father ;  they  have  examined  Jansenius  more  faithfully  than 
you  ;  they  are  no  less  intelligent  than  you ;  they  are,  there- 
fore, no  less  credible  witnesses  than  you.  But  come  what 
may  of  this  point  of  fact,  they  are  certainly  Catholics ;  for,  in 
order  to  be  so,  it  is  not  necessary  to  declare  that  another 
man  is  not  a  Catholic ;  it  is  enough,  in  all  conscience,  if  a 
person,  without  charging  error  upon  anybody  else,  succeed 
in  discharging  himself. 


Reverend  father, — If  you  have  found  any  difficulty  in  de- 
ciphering this  letter,  which  is  certainly  not  printed  in  the 
best  possible  type,  blame  nobody  but  yourself.  Privileges 
are  not  so  easily  granted  to  me  as  they  are  to  you.  You  can 
procure  them  even  for  the  purpose  of  combating  miracles  ;  I 
cannot  have  them  even  to  defend  myself.  The  printing- 
houses  are  perpetually  haunted.  In  such  circumstance,  you 
yourself  would  not  advise  me  to  write  you  any  more  fetters 


365  APOLOGY    FOR   BAD    PRINTING. 

for  it  is  really  a  sad  annoyance  to  be  obliged  to  have  recourse 
to  an  Osnabruck  impression.* 

*  .This  postscript,  which  is  wanting  in  the  ordinary  editions,  appeared 
in  the  first  edition  at  the  close  of  this  letter.  From  this  it  appears  that, 
in  consequence  oi'the  extreme  desire  of  the  Jesuits  to  discover  the  au- 
thor, and  their  increasing  resentment  against  him,  he  was  compelled  to 
send  this  letter  to  Osnabruck,  an  obscure  place  in  Germany,  where  it 
was  printed  in  a  very  small  and  indistinct  character.  The  privileges 
referred  to  were  official  licenses  to  print  books,  which,  at  this  time,  when 
the  Jesuits  were  in  power,  it  was  difficult  for  their  opponents  to  obtain. 
Annat  had  published  against  the  miracles  of  Port-Royal.  Pascal  was 
not  permitted  to  publish  in  self-defence.  At  the  same  perLd.  no  Prot- 
estant books  coufd  be  printed  at  Paris  •;  they  we*e  generally  sent  to 
Geneva  or  the  Low  Countries  for  this  purpose,  or  published  furtively 
under  fictitious  names. 


LETTER  XV    II. 

TO   THE   REVEREND   FATHER  ANNAT,  JESUIT. 

SHOWING  STILL  MORE  PLAINLY,  ON  THE  AUTHORITY  OF  FATHER  ANNAT 
HIMSELF,  THAT  THERE  IS  REALLY  NO  HERESY  IN  THE  CHURCH, 
AND  THAT  IN  QUESTIONS  OF  FACT  WE  MUST  BE  GUIDED  BY  OUR 
SENSES,  AND  NOT  BY  AUTHORITY  EVEN  OF  THE  POPES. 

March  24,  1657. 

REVEREND  FATHER, — Long  have  you  labored  to  discover 
-ome  error  in  the  creed  or  conduct  of  your  opponents ;  but  I 
rather  think  you  will  have  to  confess,  in  the  end,  that  it  is  a 
more  difficult  task  than  you  imagined  to  make  heretics  of 
people  who  are  not  only  no  heretics,  but  who  hate  nothing 
in  the  world  so  much  as  heresy.  In  my  last  letter  I  suc- 
ceeded in  showing  that  you  accuse  them  of  one  heresy  after 
another,  without  being  able  to  stand  by  one  of  the  charges 
for  any  length  of  time ;  so  that  all  that  remained  for  you 
was  to  fix  on  their  refusal  to  condemn  "  the  sense  of  Jansen- 
ius,"  which  you  insist  on  their  doing  without  explanation. 
You  must  have  been  sadly  in  want  of  heresies  to  brand  them 
with,  when  you  were  reduced  to  this.  For,  who.  ever  heard 
of  a  heresy  which  nobody  could  explain  ?  The  answer  was 
ready,  therefore,  that  if  Jansenius  has  no  errors,. it  is  wrong 
to  condemn  him ;  and  if  he  has,  you  were  bound  to  point 
them  out,  that  we  might  know  at  least  what  we  were  con- 
demning. This,  however,  you  have  never  yet  been  pleased 
to  do ;  but  you  have  attempted  to  fortify  your  position  by 
decrees,*  which  made  nothing  in  your  favor,  as  they  gave  no 
sort  of  explanation  of  the  sense  of  Jansenius,  said  to  have 

*  Decrees  of  the  pope. 


THE   SENSE    OF   JANSENIUS.  367 

been  condemned  in  the  five  propositions.  This  was  not  the 
way  to  terminate  the  dispute.  Had  you  mutually  agreed  as 
to  the  genuine  sense  of  Jansenius,  and  had  the  only  difference 
between  you  been  as  to  whether  that  sense  was  heretical  or 
not,  in  that  case  the  decisions  which  might  pronounce  it  to 
be  heretical,  would  have  touched  the  real  question  in  dispute. 
But  the  great  dispute  being  about  the  sense  of  Jansenius,  the 
one  partv  saying  that  they  could  see  nothing  in  it  inconsistent 
with  the  sense  of  St.  Augustine  and  St.  Thomas,  and  the 
other  party  asserting  that  they  saw  in  it  an  heretical  sense 
which  they  would  not  express.  It  is  clear  that  a  constitution* 
which  does  not  say  a  word  about  this  difference  of  opinion, 
and  which  only  condemns  in  general  and  without  explana- 
tion the  sense  of  Jansenius,  leaves  the  point  in  dispute  quite 
undecided. 

You  have  accordingly  been  repeatedly  told,  that  as  your 
discussion  turns  on  a  matter  of  fact,  you  would  never  be  able 
to  bring  it  to  a  conclusion  without  declaring  what  you  under- 
stand by  the  sense  of  Jansenius.  But,  as  you  continued  ob- 
stinate in  your  refusal  to  make  this  explanation,  I  endeavored, 
as  a  last  resource,  to  extort  it  from  you,  by  hinting,  in  my 
last  letter,  that  there  was  some  mystery  under  the  efforts  you 
were  making  to  procure  the  condemnation  of  this  sense  with- 
out explaining  it,  and  that  your  design  was  to  make  this  in- 
definite censure  recoil,  some  day  or  other,  upon  the  doctrine 
of  efficacious  grace,  by  showing,  as  you  could  easily  do,  that 
this  was  exactly  the  doctrine  of  Janseniue.  This  has  reduced 
you  to  the  necessity  of  making  a  reply ;  for,  had  you  pertina- 
ciously refused,  after  such  an  insinuation,  to  explain  your 
views  of  that  sense,  it  would  have  been  apparent,  to  persons 
of  the  smallest  penetration,  that  you  condemned  it  in  the 
sense  of  efficacious  grace — a  conclusion  which,  considering  the 
veneration  in  which  the  Church  holds  that  holy  doctrine, 
would  have  overwhelmed  you  with  disgrace. 

You  have,  therefore,  been  forced  to  speak  out  your  mind ; 
and  we  find  it  expressed  in  your  reply  to  that  part  of  my  let- 
*  The  papal  constitution  formerly  referred  to. 


368  PKOVIS;  IAL  LETTERS. 

ter  in  which  I  remarked,  that  "  if  Jansenius  was  capable  of 
any  other  sense  than  that  of  efficacious  grace,  he  had  no  de- 
fenders ;  but  if  his  writings  bore  no  other  sense,  he  had  no 
errors  to  defend."  You  found  it  impossible  to  deny  this  po- 
sition, father ;  but  you  have  attempted  to  parry  it  by  the  fol- 
lowing distinction :  "  It  is  not  sufficient,"  say  you,  "  for  the 
vindication  of  Jansenius,  to  allege  that  he  merely  holds  the 
doctrine  of  efficacious  grace,  for  that  may  be  held  in  two  ways 
— the  one  heretical,  according  to  Calvin,  which  consists  in 
maintaining  that  the  will,  when  under  the  influence  of  grace, 
has  not  the  power  of  resisting  it ;  the  other  orthodox,  accord- 
ing to  the  Thomists  and  the  Sorbonists,  which  is  founded  on 
the  principles  established  by  the  councils,  and  which  is,  that 
efficacious  grace  of  itself  governs  the  will  in  such  a  way  that 
it  still  has  the  power  of  resisting  it." 

All  this  we  grant,  father ;  but  you  conclude  by  adding : 
"Jansenius  would  be  orthodox,  if  he  defended  efficacious 
grace  in  the  sense  of  the  Thomists  ;  but  he  is  heretical,  be- 
cause he  opposes  the  Thomists,  and  joins  issue  with  Calvin, 
who  denies  the  power  of  resisting  grace."  I  do  not  here  enter 
upon  the  "question  of  fact,  whether  Jansenius  really  agrees 
with  Calvin.  It  is  enough  for  my  purpose  that  you  assert 
that  he  does,  and  that  you  now  inform  me  that  by  the  sense 
of  Jansenius  you  have  all  along  understood  nothing  more  than 
the  sense  of  Calvin.  Was  this  all  you  meant,  then,  father  ? 
Was  it  only  the  error  of  Calvin  that  you  were  so  anxious  to 
get  condemned,  under  the  name  of  "  the  sense  of  Jansenius  ?" 
Why  did  you  not  tell  us  this  sooner  ?  You  might  have  saved 
yourself  a  world  of  trouble ;  for  we  were  all  ready,  without 
the  aid  of  bulls  or  briefs,  to  join  with  you  in  condemning 
that  error.  What  urgent  necessity  there  was  for  such  an  ex- 
planation !  What  a  host  of  difficulties  has  it  removed  !  We 
were  quite  at  a  loss,  my  dear  father,  to  know  what  error  the 
popes  and  bishops  meant  to  condemn,  under  the  name  of 
"  the  sense  of  Jansenius."  The  whole  Church  was  in  the  ut- 
most perplexity  about  it,  and  not  a  soul  would  relieve  us  by 
an  explanation.  This,  however,  has  now  been  done  by  you. 


KESISTIBILITY    OF    ORACB.  369 

father — you  whom  the  whole  of  your  party  regard  as  the 
cinef  and  prime  mover  of  all  their  councils,  and  who  are  ac- 
quainted with  the  whole  secret  of  this  proceeding.  You, 
then,  have  told  us  that  the  sense  of  Jansenius  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  the  sense  of  Calvin,  which  has  been  condemned 
by  the  council.*  Why,  this  explains  everything.  We  know 
now  that  the  error  which  they  intended  to  condemn,  under 
these  terms — the  sense  of  Jansenius — is  neither  more  nor  less 
than  the  sense  of  Calvin ;  and  that,  consequently,  we,  by  join- 
ing with  them  in  the  condemnation  of  Calvin's  doctrine,  have 
yielded  all  due  obedience  to  these  decrees.  We  are  no  longer 
surprised  at  the  zeal  which  the  popes  and  some  bishops  man- 
ifested against  "  the  sense  of  Jansenius."  How,  indeed,  could 
they  be  otherwise  than  zealous  against  it,  believing  as  they 
did  the  declarations  of  those  who  publicly  affirmed  that  it 
was  identically  the  same  with  that  of  Calvin  ? 

I  must  maintain,  then,  father,  that  you  have  no  further 
reason  to  quarrel  with  your  adversaries ;  for  they  detest  that 
doctrine  as  heartily  as  you  do.  I  am  only  astonished  to  see 
that  you  are  ignorant  of  this  fact,  and  that  you  have  such  an 
imperfect  acquaintance  with  their  sentiments  on  this  point, 
which  they  have  so  repeatedly  expressed  in  their  published 
works.  I  flatter  myself  that,  were  you  more  intimate  with 
these  writings,  you  would  deeply  regret  your  not  having  made 
yourself  acquainted  sooner,  in  the  spirit  of  peace,  with  a  doc- 
trine which  is  in  every  respect  so  holy  and  so  Christian,  but 
which  passion,  in  the  absence  of  knowledge,  now  prompts  you 
to  oppose.  You  would  find,  father,  that  they  not  only  hold 
that  an  effective  resistance  may  be  made  to  those  feebler 
graces  which  go  under  the  name  of  exciting  or  inefficacious, 
from  their  not  terminating  in  the  good  with  which  they  in- 
spire us ;  but  that  they  are,  moreover,  as  firm  in  maintaining, 
in  opposition  to  Calvin,  the  power  which  the  will  has  to  re- 
sist even  efficacious  and  victorious  grace,  as  they  are  in  con- 
tending against  Molina  for  the  power  of  this  grace  over  the 

*  The  Council  of  Trent  is  meant,  when  Pascal  speaks  of  the  council^ 
without  any  other  specification. 

10* 


370  .  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

will,  and  fully  as  jealous  for  the  one  of  these  truths  as  they 
are  for  the  other.  They  know  too  well  that  man.  of  his  own 
nature,  has  always  the  power  of  sinning  and  of  resisting 
grace ;  and  that,  since  he  became  corrupt,  he  unhappily  car- 
ries in  his  breast  a  fount  of  concupiscence  which  infinitely 
augments  that  power ;  but  that,  notwithstanding  this,  when 
it  pleases  God  to  visit  him  wiih  his  mercy,  he  makes  the  soul 
do  what  he  wills,  and  in  the  manner  he  wills  it  to  be  done, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  the  infallibility  of  the  divine  opera- 
tion does  not  in  any  way  destroy  the  natural  liberty  of  man, 
in  consequence  of  the  secret  and  wonderful  ways  by  which 
God  operates  this  change.  This  has  been  most  admirably 
explained  by  St.  Augustine,  in  such  a  way  as  to  dissipate  all 
those  imaginary  inconsistencies  which  the  opponents  of  effica- 
cious grace  suppose  to  exist  between  the  sovereign  power  of 
grace  over  the  free-will  and  the  power  which  the  free-will 
has  to  resist  grace.  For,  according  to  this  great  saint,  whom 
the  popes  and  the  Church  have  held  to  be  a  standard  author- 
ity on  this  subject,  God  transforms  the  heart  of  man,  by  shed- 
ding abroad  in  it  a  heavenly  sweetness,  which,  surmounting 
the  delights  of  the  flesh,  and  inducing  him  to  feel,  on  the  one 
hand,  his  own  mortality  and  nothingness,  and  to  discover,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  majesty  and  eternity  of  God,  makes  him 
conceive  a  distaste  for  the  pleasures  of  sin,  which  interpose 
between  him  and  incorruptible  happiness.  Finding  his  chief- 
est  joy  in  the  God  who  charms  him,  his  soul  is  drawn  to- 
wards him  infallibly,  but  of  its  own  accord,  by  a  motion  per- 
fectly free,  spontaneous,  love-impelled ;  so  that  it  would  be 
its  torment  and  punishment  to  be  separated  from  him.  Not 
but  that  the  person  has  always  the  power  of  forsaking  his 
God,  and  that  he  may  not  actually  forsake  him,  provided  he 
choose  to  do  it.  But  how  could  he  choose  such  a  course, 
seeing  that  the  will  always  inclines  to  that  which  is  most 
agreeable  to  it,  and  that  in  the  case  we  now  suppose  nothing 
can  be  more  agreeable  than  the  possession  of  that  one  good, 
which  comprises  in  itself  all  other  good  things.  "  Quod 
enim  (says  St.  Augustine)  arnplius  nos  delectat,  secundum 


RESISTIBILITY    OF    RRACE.  3*71 

operemur  necesse  est — Our  actions  are  necessarily  determined 
by  that  which  affords  us  the  greatest  pleasure." 

Such  is  the  manner  in  which  God  regulates  the  free  will 
of  man  without  encroaching  on  its  freedom,  and  in  which  the 
free  will,  which  always  may,  but  never  will,  resist  his  grace, 
turns  to  God  with  a  movement  as  voluntary  as  it  is  irresisti- 
ble, whensoever  he  is  pleased  to  draw  it  to  himself  by  the 
sweet  constraint  of  his  efficacious  inspirations.* 

These,  father,  are  the  divine  principles  of  St.  Augustine 
and  St.  Thomas,  according  to  which  it  is  equally  true  that 
we  have  the  power  of  resisting  grace,  contrary  to  Calvin's 
opinion,  and  that,  nevertheless,  to  employ  the  language  of 
Pope  Clement  VIII.,  in  his  paper  addressed  to  the  Congre- 
gation de  Auxiliis,  "  God  forms  within  us  the  motion  of  our 
will,  and  effectually  disposes  of  our  hearts,  by  virtue  of  that 
empire  Avhich  his  supreme  majesty  has  over  the  volitions  of 
men,  as  well  as  over  the  other  creatures  under  heaven,  ac- 
cording to  St.  Augustine." 

On  the  same  principle,  it  follows  that  we  act  of  ourselves, 
and  thus,  in  opposition  to  another  error  of  Calvin,  that  we 
have  merits  which  are  truly  and  properly  ours  ;  and  yet,  as 
God  is  the  first  principle  of  our  actions,  and  as,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  St.  Paul,  he  "  worketh  in  us  that  which  is  pleasing 
in  his  sight ;"  "  our  merits  are  the  gifts  of  God,"  as  the 
Council  of  Trent  says. 

By  means  of  this  distinction  we  demolish  the  profane  sen- 
timent of  Luther,  condemned  by  that  Council,  namely,  that 
"  we  co-operate  in  no  way  whatever  towards  our  salvation, 
any  more  than  inanimate  things  ;"f  and,  by  the  same  mode 
of  reasoning,  we  overthrow  the  equally  profane  sentiment  of 
the  school  of  Molina,  who  will  not  allow  that  it  is  by  the 
strength  of  divine  grace  that  we  are  enabled  to  co-operate 
with  it  in  the  work  of  our  salvation,  and  who  thereby  comes 

*  The  reader  may  well  be  at  a  loss  to  see  the  difference  between  thia 
and  the  Reformed  doctrine.  Some  explanations  will  be  found  in  the 
Historical  Introduction. 

f  This  sentiment  was  falsely  ascribed  to  Luther  by  the  Council. 
(Leydeck,  DC  Dogm.  Jan.  275.) 


372  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

into  hostile  collision  with  that  principle  of  faith  established 
by  St.  Paul,  "  That  it  is  God  who  worketh  in  us  both  to  will 
and  to  do." 

In  fine,  in  this  way  we  reconcile  all  those  passages  of 
Scripture  which  seem  quite  inconsistent  with  each  other, 
such  as  the  following  :  " Turn  ye  unto  God" — "Turn  thou 
us,  and  we  shall  be  turned" — "  Cast  away  iniquity  from  you" 
— "It  is  God  who  taketh  away  iniquity  from  his  people" — 
"  Bring  forth  works  meet  for  repentance" — "  Lord,  thou  hast 
wrought  all  our  works  in  us" — "  Make  ye  a  new  heart  and  a 
new  spirit" — "  A  new  spirit  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  heart 
will  I  create  within  you,"  <fec. 

The  only  way  of  reconciling  these  apparent  contrarieties, 
which  ascribe  our  good  actions  at  one  time  to  God,  and  at 
another  time  to  ourselves,  is  to  keep  in  view  the  distinction, 
as  stated  by  St.  Augustine,  that  "  our  actions  are  ours  in  re- 
spect of  the  free  will  which  produces  them ;  but  that  they 
are  also  of  God,  in  respect  of  his  grace  which  enables  our 
free  will  to  produce  them ;"  and  that,  as  the  same  writer 
elsewhere  remarks,  "  God  enables  us  to  do  what  is  pleasing 
in  his  sight,  by  making  us  will  to  do  even  what  we  might 
have  been  unwilling  to  do." 

It  thus  appears,  father,  that  your  opponents  are  perfectly 
at  one  with  the  modern  Thomists,  for  the  Thomists  hold, 
with  them,  both  the  power  of  resisting  grace,  and  the  infalli- 
bility of  the  effect  of  grace ;  of  which  latter  doctrine  they 
profess  themselves  the  most  strenuous  advocates,  if  we  may 
judge  from  a  common  maxim  of  their  theology,  which  Al- 
varez,* one  of  the  leading  men  among  them,  repeats  so  often 
in  his  book,  and  expresses  in  the  following  terms  (disp.  72, 
n.  4) :  "  When  efficacious  grace  moves  the  free  will,  it  infal- 


*  Diego  (or  Didacus)  Alvarez  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  theolo 
gians  of  the  order  of  St.  Dominick;  he  flourished  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  and  died  in  1G35.  He  was  brought  from  Spain 
to  Rome,  to  advocate  there,  along  with  Father  Thomas  Lemos.  the 
cause  of  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  the  Jesuit  Molina  weakened, 
and  indeed  annihilated.  He  shone  greatly  in  the  famous  Congregation 
dcAuxttiis.  (Nicole's  Note.) 


GRACE    AND    TREE-WILL.  373 

libly  consents ;  because  the  effect  of  grace  is  such,  that,  al- 
though the  will  has  the  power  of  withholding  its  consent,  it 
nevertheless  consents  in  effect."  He  corroborates  this  by  a 
quotation  from  his  master,  St.  Thomas :  "  The  will  of  God 
cannot  fail  to  be  accomplished  ;  and,  accordingly,  when  it  is 
his  pleasure  that  a  man  should  consent  to  the  influence  of 
grace,  he  consents  infallibly,  and  even  necessarily,  not  by  an 
absolute  necessity,  but  by  a  necessity  of  infallibility."  In 
effecting  this,  divine  grace  does  not  trench  upon  "  the  power 
which  man  has  to  resist  it,  if  he  wishes  to  do  so ;"  it  merely 
prevents  him  from  wishing  to  resist  it.  This  has  been  ac- 
knowledged by  your  Father  Petau,  in  the  following  passage 
(torn.  i.  p.  602) :  "  The  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  insures  infalli- 
ble perseverance  in  piety,  though  not  by  necessity ;  for  a 
person  may  refuse  to  yield  his  consent  to  grace,  if  he  be  so 
inclined,  as  the  council  states ;  but  that  same  grace  provides 
that  he  shall  never  be  so  inclined." 

This,  father,  is  the  uniform  doctrine  of  St.  Augustine,  of 
St.  Prosper,  of  the  fathers  who  followed  them,  of  the  coun- 
cils, of  St.  Thomas,  and  of  all  the  Thomists  in  general.  It 
is  likewise,  whatever  you  may  think  of  it,  the  doctrine  of 
your  opponents.  And  let  me  add,  it  is  the  doctrine  which 
you  yourself  have  lately  sealed  with  your  approbation.  I 
shall  quote  your  own  words:  "The  doctrine  of  efficacious 
grace,  which  admits  that  we  have  a  power  of  resisting  it,  is 
orthodox,  founded  on  the  councils,  and  supported  by  the 
Thomists  and  Sorbonists."  Now,  tell  us  the  plain  truth, 
father ;  if  you  had  known  that  your  opponents  really  held 
this  doctrine,  the  interests  of  your  Society  might  perhaps 
have  made  you  scruple  before  pronouncing  this  public  ap- 
proval of  it ;  but,  acting  on  the  supposition  that  they  were 
hostile  to  the  doctrine,  the  same  powerful  motive  has  induced 
you  to  authorize  sentiments  which  you  know  in  your  heart  to 
be  contrary  to  those  of  your  Society ;  and  by  this  blunder, 
in  your  anxiety  to  ruin  their  principles,  you  have  yourself 
completely  confirmed  them.  So  that,  by  a  kind  of  prodigy, 
we  now  behold  the  advocates  of  efficacious  grace  vindicated 


374  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

by  the  advocates  of  Molina — an  admirable  instance  of  the 
wisdom  of  God  in  making  all  things  concur  to  advance  the 
glory  of  the  truth. 

Let  the  whole  world  observe,  then,  that  by  your  own  ad- 
mission, the  truth  of  this  efficacious  grace,  which  is  so  essen- 
tial to  all  the  acts  of  piety,  which  is  so  dear  to  the  Church, 
and  which  is  the  purchase  of  her  Saviour's  blood,  is  so  indis- 
putably Catholic,  that  there  is  not  a  single  Catholic,  not  even 
among  the  Jesuits,  who  would  not  acknowledge  its  ortho- 
doxy. And  let  it  be  noticed,  at  the  same  time,  that,  accord- 
ing to  your  own  confession,  not  the  slightest  suspicion  of 
error  can  fall  on  those  whom  you  have  so  often  stigmatized 
with  it.  For  so  long  as  you  charged  them  with  clandestine 
heresies,  without  choosing  to  specify  them  by  name,  it  was 
as  difficult  for  them  to  defend  themselves  as  it  was  easy  for 
you  to  bring  such  accusations.  But  now,  when  you  have 
come  to  declare  that  the  error  which  constrains  you  to  op- 
pose them,  is  the  heresy  of  Calvin  which  you  supposed  them 
to  hold,  it  must  be  apparent  to  every  one  that  they  are  inno- 
cent of  all  error ;  for  so  decidedly  hostile  are  they  to  this, 
the  only  error  you  charge  upon  them,  that  they  protest,  by 
their  discourses,  by  their  books,  by  every  mode,  in  short,  in 
which  they  can  testify  their  sentiments,  that  they  condemn 
that  heresy  with  their  whole  heart,  and  in  the  same  manner 
as  it  has  been  condemned  by  the  Thomists,  whom  you  ac- 
knowledge, without  scruple,  to  be  Catholics,  and  who  have 
never  been  suspected  to  be  anything  else. 

What  will  you  say  against  them  now,  father  ?  Will  you 
say  that  they  are  heretics  still,  because,  although  they  do 
not  adopt  the  sense  of  Calvin,  they  will  not  allow  that  the 
sense  of  Jansenius  is  the  same  with  that  of  Calvin  ?  Will 
you  presume  to  say  that  this  is  matter  of  heresy  ?  Is  it  not 
a  pure  question  of  fact,  with  which  heresy  has  nothing  to 
do  ?  It  would  be  heretical  to  say  that  we  have  not  the  power 
of  resisting  efficacious  grace  ;  but  would  it  be  so  to  doubt 
that  Jansenius  held  that  doctrine  ?  Is  this  a  revealed  truth  ? 
Is  it  an  article  of  faith  which  must  be  believed,  on  pain  of 


JANSSNIUS    NO    HERETIC.  375 

damnation  ?  or  is  it  not,  in  spite  of  you,  a  point  of  fact,  on 
account  of  which  it  would  be  ridiculous  to  hold  that  there 
were  heretics  in  the  Church. 

Drop  this  epithet,  then,  father,  and  give  them  some  other 
name,  more  suited  to  the  nature  of  your  dispute.  Tell  them, 
they  are  ignorant  and  stupid — that  they  misunderstand  Jan- 
senius.  These  would  be  charges  in  keeping  with  your  con- 
troversy ;  but  it  is  quite  irrelevant  to  call  them  heretics.  As 
this,  however,  is  the  only  charge  from  which  I  am  anxious  to 
defend  them,  I  shall  not  give  myself  much  trouble  to  show 
that  they  rightly  understand  Jansenius.  All  I  shall  say  on 
the  point,  father,  is,  that  it  appears  to  me  that  were  he  to  be 
judged  according  to  your  own  rules,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
prove  him  not  to  be  a  good  Catholic.  We  shall  try  him  by 
the  test  you  have  proposed.  "  To  know,"  say  you,  "whether 
Jansenius  is  sound  or  not,  we  must  inquire  whether  he  de- 
fends efficacious  gjpice  in  the  manner  of  Calvin,  who  denies 
that  man  has  the  power  of  resisting  it — in  which  case  he 
would  be  heretical ;  or  in  the  manner  of  the  Thomists,  who 
admit  that  it  may  be  resisted — for  then  he  would  be  Catho- 
lic." Judge,  then,  father,  whether  he  holds  that  grace  may 
be  resisted,  when  he  says,  "  That  we  have  always  a  power  to 
resist  grace,  according  to  the  council ;  that  free  will  may  al- 
ways act  or  not  act,  will  or  not  will,  consent  or  not  consent, 
do  good  or  do  evil ;  and  that  man,  in  this  life,  has  always 
these  two  liberties,  which  may  be  called  by  some  contradic- 
tions."* Judge,  likewise,  if  he  be  not  opposed  to  the  error 
of  Calvin,  as  you  have  described  it,  when  he  occupies  a  whole 
chapter  (21st)  in  showing  "  that  the  Church  has  condemned 
that  heretic  who  denies  that  efficacious  grace  acts  on  the  free 
will  in  the  manner  which  has  been .  so  long  believed  in  the 
Church,  so  as  to  leave  it  in  the  power  of  free  will  to  consent 
or  not  to  consent ;  whereas,  according  to  St.  Augustine  and 
the  council,  we  have  always  the  power  of  withholding  our 
consent  if  we  choose ;  and  according  to  St.  Prosper,  God  be- 

*  His  Treatise  passim,  and  particularly  torn.  3,  1.  8,  c.  30. 


876  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

stows  even  upon  his  elect  the  will  to  persevere,  in  such  a 
way  as  not  to  deprive  them  of  the  power  to  will  the  contra- 
ry." And,  in  one  word,  judge  if  he  do  not  agree  with  the 
Thomists,  from  the  following  declaration  in  chapter  4th  : 
"  That  all  that  the  Thomists  have  written  with  the  view  of 
reconciling  the  efficaciousness  of  grace  with  the  power  of 
resisting  it,  so  entirely  coincides  witL  his  judgment,  that  to 
ascertain  his  sentiments  on  this  subject,  we  have  only  to  con- 
sult their  writings." 

Such  being  the  language  he  holds  on  these  heads,  my 
opinion  is,  that  he  believes  in  the  power  of  resisting  grace  ; 
that  he  differs  from  Calvin,  and  agrees  with  the  Thomists, 
because  he  has  said  so  ;  and  that  he  is,  therefore,  according 
to  your  own  showing,  a  Catholic.  If  you  have  any  means 
of  knowing  the  sense  of  an  author  otherwise  than  by  his  ex- 
pressions ;  and  if,  without  quoting  any  of  his  passages,  you 
are  disposed  to  maintain,  in  direct  opposition  to  his  own 
words,  that  he  denies  this  power  of  resistance,  and  that  he  is 
for  Calvin  and  against  the  Thomists,  do  not  be  afraid,  father, 
that  I  will  accuse  you  of  heresy  for  that.  I  shall  only  say, 
that  you  do  not  seem  properly  to  understand  Jansenius  ;  but 
we  shall  not  be  the  less  on  that  account  children  of  the  same 
Church. 

How  comes  it,  then,  father,  that  you  manage  this  dispute 
in  such  a  passionate  spirit,  and  that  you  treat  as  your  most 
cruel  enemies,  and  as  the  most  pestilent  of  heretics,  a  class 
of  persons  whom  you  cannot  accuse  of  any  error,  nor  of  any- 
thing whatever,  except  that  they  do  not  understand  Janseni- 
us as  you  do  ?  For  what  else  in  the  world  do  you  dispute 
about,  except  the  sense  of  that  author  ?  You  would  have 
them  to  condemn  it.  They  ask  what  you  mean  them  to  con- 
demn. You  reply,  that  you  mean  the  error  of  Calvin.  They 
rejoin  that  they  condemn  that  error ;  and  with  this  acknow- 
ledgment (unless  it  is  syllables  you  wish  to  condemn,  and 
not  the  thing  which  they  signify),  you  ought  to  rest  satisfied. 
If  they  refuse  to  say  that  they  condemn  the  sense  of  J  in- 
senius,  it  is  because  they  believe  it  to  be  that  of  St.  Thomas, 


THE   JANSENIST8    GOOD    CATHOLICS.  877 

and  thus  this  unhappy  phrase  has  a  very  equivocal  meaning 
betwixt  you.  In  your  mouth  it  signifies  the  sense  of  Calvin ; 
in  theirs  the  sense  of  St.  Thomas.  Your  dissensions  arise 
entirely  from  the  different  ideas  which  you  attach  to  the 
same  term.  Were  I  made  umpire  in  the  quarrel,  I  would 
interdict  the  use  of  the  word  Jansenius,  on  both  sides  ;  and 
thus,  by  obliging  you  merely  to  express  what  you  understand 
by  it,  it  would  be  seen  that  you  ask  nothing  more  than  the 
condemnation  of  Calvin,  to  which  they  willingly  agree  ;  and 
that  they  ask  nothing  more  than  the  vindication  of  the  sense 
of  St.  Augustine  and  St.  Thomas,  in  which  you  again  per- 
fectly coincide. 

I  declare,  then,  father,  that  for  my  part  I  shall  continue  to 
regard  them  as  good  Catholics,  whether  they  condemn  Jan- 
senius, on  finding  him  erroneous,  or  refuse  to  condemn  him, 
from  finding  that  he  maintains  nothing  more  than  what  you 
yourself  acknowledge  to  be  orthodox ;  and  that  I  shall  say 
to  them  what  St.  Jerome  said  to  John,  bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
who  was  accused  of  holding  the  eight  propositions  of  Origen  : 
"  Either  condemn  Origen,  if  you  acknowledge  that  he  has 
maintained  these  errors,  or  else  deny  that  he  has  maintained 
them — Aut  nega  hoc  dixisse  eum  quiarguitur  ;  aut  si  locutus 
est  talia,  eum  damna  qui  dixerit." 

See,  father,  how  these  persons  acted,  whose  sole  concern 
was  with  principles,  and  not  with  persons;  whereas  you 
who  aim  at  persons  more  than  principles,  consider  it  a  mat- 
ter of  no  consequence  to  condemn  errors,  unless  you  procure 
the  condemnation  of  the  individuals  to  whom  you  choose  to 
impute  them. 

How  ridiculously  violent  your  conduct  is,  father !  and  how 
ill  calculated  to  insure  success  !  I  told  you  before,  and  I 
repeat  it,  violence  and  verity  can  make  no  impression  on  each 
other.  Never  were  your  accusations  more  outrageous,  and 
never  was  the  innocence  of  your  opponents  more  discernible  : 
never  has  efficacious  grace  been  attacked  with  greater  sub- 
tility,  and  never  has  it  been  more  triumphantly  established. 
You  have  made  the  most  desperate  efforts  to  convince  peo- 


J78  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

pie  that  your  disputes  involved  points  of  faith;  and 'never 
•was  it  more  apparent  that  the  whole  controversy  turned  upon 
a  mere  point  of  fact.  In  fine,  you  have  moved  heaven  and 
earth  to  make  it  appear  that  this  point  of  fact  is  founded  on 
truth;  and  never  were  people  more  disposed  to  call  it  in 
question.  And  the  obvious  reason  of  this  is,  that  you  do  not 
take  the  natural  course  to  make  them  believe  a  point  of  fact, 
which  is  to  convince  their  senses,  and  point  out  to  them  in  a 
book  the  words  which  you  allege  are  to  be  found  in  it.  The 
means  you  have  adopted  are  so  far  removed  from  this 
straightforward  course,  that  the  most  obtuse  minds  are  un- 
avoidably struck  by  observing  it.  Why  did  you  not  take 
the  plan  which  I  followed  in  bringing  to  light  the  wicked 
maxims  of  your  authors — which  was  to  cite  faithfully  the 
passages  of  their  writings  from  which  they  were  extracted  ? 
This  was  the  mode  followed  by  the  cures  of  Paris,  and  it 
never  '  fails  to  produce  conviction.  But,  when  you  were 
clyirged  by  them  with  holding,  for  example,  the  proposition 
of  Father  Lamy,  that  a  "  monk  may  kill  a  person  who  threat- 
ens to  publish  calumnies  against  himself  or  his  order,  when 
be  cannot  otherwise  prevent  the  publication," — what  would 
you  have  thought,  and  what  would  the  public  have  said,  if 
they  had  not  quoted  the  place  where  that  sentiment  is  literally 
to  be  found  ?  or  if,  after  having  been  repeatedly  demanded 
to  quote  their  authority,  they  still  obstinately  refused  to  do 
it?  or  if,  instead  of  acceding  to  this,  they  had  gone  off  to 
Rome,  and  procured  a  bull,  ordaining  all  men  to  acknowl- 
edge the  truth  of  their  statement  ?  Would  it  not  be  un- 
doubtedly concluded  that  they  had  surprised  th«  pope,  and 
that  they  would  never  have  had  recourse  to  this  extraordi- 
nary method,  but  for  want  of  the  natural  means  of  substan- 
tiating the  truth,  which  matters  of  fact  furnish  to  all  who 
undertake  to  prove  them  ?  Accordingly,  they  had  no  more 
to  do  than  to  tell  us  that  Father  Lamy  teaches  this  doctrine 
in  Ionic  5,  disp.  36,  n.  118,  page  544,  of  the  Douay  edition  ; 
and  by  this  means  everybody  who  wished  to  see  it  found  it  out, 
and  nobody  could  doubt  abou'  it  any  longer.  This  appears 


POPES    MAT    BE    SURPRISED.  379 

to  be  a  very  easy  and  prompt  way  of  putting  an  end  to  con- 
troversies of  fact,  when  one  has  got  the  right  side  of  the 
question. 

How  comes  it,  then,  father,  that  you  do  not  follow  this 
plan  ?  You  said,  in  your  book,  that  the  five  propositions  are 
in  Jansenius,  word  for  word,  in  the  identical  terms — iisderrt 
verbis.  You  were  told  they  were  not.  What  had  you  to  do 
after  this,  but  either  to  cite  the  page,  if  you  had  really  found 
the  words,  or  tp  acknowledge  that  you  were  mistaken.  But 
you  have  done  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  In  place  of 
this,  on  finding  that  all  the  passages  from  Jansenius,  which 
you  sometimes  adduce  for  the  purpose  of  hoodwinking  the 
people,  are  not  "  the  condemned  propositions  in  their  individ- 
ual identity,"  as  you  had  engaged  to  show  us,  you  present 
us  with  Constitutions  from  Rome,  which,  without  specifying 
any  particular  place,  declare  that  the  propositions  have  been 
extracted  from  his  book. 

I  am  sensible,  father,  of  the  respect  which  Christians  owe 
to  the  Holy  See,  and  your  antagonists  give  sufficient  evidence 
of  their  resolution  ever  to  abide  by  its  decisions.  Do  not 
imagine  that  it  implied  any  deficiency  in  this  due  deference 
on  their  part,  that  they  represented  to  the  pope,  with  all  the 
submission  which  children  owe  to  their  father,  and  members 
to  their  head,  that  it  was  possible  he  might  be  deceived  on 
this  point  of  fact — that  he  had  not  caused  it  to  be  investi- 
gated during  his  pontificate ;  and  that  his  predecessor,  In- 
nocent X.,  had  merely  examined  into  the  heretical  character 
of  the  propositions,  and  not  into  the  fact  of  their  connection 
with  Jansenius.  This  they  stated  to  the  commissary  of  the 
Holy  Office,  one  of  the  principal  examinators,  stating,  that 
tiiey  could  not  be  censured,  according  to  the  sense  of  any 
author,  because  they  had  been  presented  for  examination  on 
their  own  merits,  and  without  considering  to  what  author 
they  might  belong  :  further,  that  upwards  of  sixty  doctors, 
and  a  vast  number  of  other  persons  of  learning  and  piety,  had 
read  that  book  carefully  over,  without  ever  having  encount- 
ered the  proscribed  propositions,  and  that  they  have  found 


880  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

some  of  a  quite  opposite  description  :  that  those  who  had 
produced  that  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  pope,  might  be 
reasonably  presumed  to  have  abused  the  confidence  he  repos- 
ed in  them,  inasmuch  as  they  had  an  interest  in  decrying 
that  author,  who  has  convicted  Molina  of  upwards  of  fifty 
errors  :*  that  what  renders  this  supposition  still  more  proba- 
ble is,  that  they  have  a  certain  maxim  among  them,  one  of 
the  best  authenticated  in  their  whole  system  of  theology, 
which  is,  "  that  they  may,  without  criminality,  calumniate 
those  by  whom  they  conceive  themselves  to  be  unjustly  at- 
tacked :"  and  that,  accordingly,  their  testimony  being  so 
suspicious,  and  the  testimony  of  the  other  party  so  respecta- 
ble, they  had  some  ground  for  supplicating  his  holiness,  with 
the  most  profound  humility,  that  he  would  ordain  an  investi- 
gation to  be  made  into  this  fact,  in  the  presence  of  doctors 
belonging  to  both  parties,  in  order  that  a  solemn  and  regulai 
decision  might  be  formed  on  the  point  in  dispute.  "  Let 
there  be  a  convocation  of 'able  judges  (says  St.  Basil  on  a 
similar  occasion,  Ep.  75) ;  let  each  of  them  be  left  at  perfect 
freedom ;  let  them  examine  my  writings  ;  let  them  judge  if 
they  contain  errors  against  the  faith  ;  let  them  read  the  ob- 
jections and  the  replies;  that  so  a  judgment  may  be  given 
in  due  form,  and  with  proper  knowledge  of  the  case,  and  not 
a  defamatory  libel  without  examination." 

It  is  quite  vain  for  you,  father,  to  represent  those  who 
would  act  in  the  manner  I  have  now  supposed  as  deficient 
in  proper  subjection  to  the  Holy  See.  The  popes  are  very 
far  from  being  disposed  to  treat  Christians  with  that  impe- 

*  "  It  may  be  proper  here  to  give  an  explanation  of  the  hatred  of 
the  Jesuits  against  Jansenius.  When  the  Auguslinus  of  that^  author 
was  printed  in  1640,  Libertus  Fromond.  the  celebrated  professor  of 
Louvain.  resolved  to  insert  in  the  end  of  the  book  of  his  friend,  who  had 
died  two  years  before,  a  parallel  between  the  doctrine  of  the  Jesuits  on 
grace,  and  the  errors  of  the  Marseillois  or  demi-Pelagians.  This  was 
quite  enough  to  raise  the  rancor  of  the  Jesuits  against  Jansenius.  whom 
they  erroneously  supposed  was  the  author  of  that  parallel.  And  as 
these  fathers  have  long  since  erased  from  their  code  of  morals  the  duty 
of  the  forgiveness  of  injuries,  they  commenced  their  campaign  against 
the  book  of  Jansenius  in  the  Low  Countries,  by  a  large  volume  of  The- 
olotrical  Theses  (in  folio,  1641).  which  are  very  singular  productions." 
(Note  by  Nicole.) 


POPES    MAY   BE    SURPRISED.  381 

riousness  which  some  would  fain  exercise  under  their  name. 
"The  Church,"  says  Pope  St.  Gregory,*  "which  has  been 
trained  in  the  school  of  humility,  does  not  command  with 
authority,  but  persuades  by  reason,  her  children  whom  she 
believes  to  be  in  error,  to  obey  what  she  has  taught  them." 
And  so  far  from  deeming  it  a  disgrace  to  review  a  judgment 
into  which  they  may  have  been  surprised,  we  have  the  testi- 
mony of  Si.  Bernard  for  saying  that  they  glory  in  acknow- 
ledging the  mistake.  "  The  Apostolic  See  (he  says,  Ep.  180) 
can  boast  of  this  recommendation,  that  it  never  stands  on 
the  point  of  honor,  but  willingly  revokes  a  decision  that  has 
been  gained  from  it  by  surprise ;  indeed,  it  is  highly  just  to 
prevent  any  from  profiting  by  an  act  of  injustice,  and  more 
especially  before  the  Holy  See." 

Such,  father,  are  the  proper  sentiments  with  which  the 
popes  ought  to  be  inspired ;  for  all  divines  are  agreed  that 
they  may  be  surprised,!  and  that  their  supreme  character, 
so  far  from  warranting  them  against  mistakes,  exposes  them 
the  more  readily  to  fall  into  them,  on  account  of  the  vast 
number  of  cares  which  claim  their  attention.  This  is  what 
the  same  St.  Gregory  says  to  some  persons  who  were  aston- 
ished at  the  circumstance  of  another  pope  having  suffered 
himself  to  be  deluded :  "  Why  do  you  wonder,"  says  he, 
"  that  we  should  be  deceived,  we  who  are  but  men  ?  Have 
you  not  read  that  David,  a  king  who  had  the  spirit  of  pro- 
phecy, was  induced,  by  giving  credit  to  the  falsehoods  of 
Ziba,  to  pronounce  an  unjust  judgment  against  the  son  of 
Jonathan  ?  Who  will  think  it  strange,  then,  that  we,  who 
are  not  prophets,  should  sometimes  be  imposed  upon  by  de- 
ceivers '?  A  multiplicity  of  affairs  presses  on  us,  and  our 
minds,  which,  by  being  obliged  to  attend  to  so  many  things 
at  once,  apply  themselves  less  closely  to  each  in  particular, 
are  the  more  easily  liable  to  be  imposed  upon  in  individual 
cases.";};  Truly,  father,  I  should  suppose  that  the  popes 

*  On  the  Book  of  Job,  lib.  viiL  cap.  1. 

t  Surprise  is  the  word  us«d  to  denote  the  case  of  the  pope  when  ta- 
ken at  unawares  or  deceived  by  false  accounts. 
±  Lib.  i..  in  Dial. 


382  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

know  better  than  you  -whether  they  may  be  deceived  or  not. 
They  themselves  tell  us  that  popes,  as  well  as  the  greatest 
princes,  are  more  exposed  to  deception  than  individuals  who 
are  less  occupied  with  important  avocations.  This  must  be 
believed  on  their  testimony.  And  it  is  easy  to  imagine  by 
what  means  they  come  to  be  thus  over-reached.  St.  Bernard, 
in  the  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Innocent  II.,  gives  us  the 
following  description  of  the  process :  "  It  is  no  wonder,  and 
no  novelty,  that  the  human  mind  may  be  deceived,  and  is 
deceived.  You  are  surrounded  by  monks  who  come  to  you 
in  the  spirit  of  lying  and  deceit.  They  have  filled  your  ears 
with  stories  against  a  bishop,  whose  life  has  been  most  ex- 
emplary, but  who  is  the  object  of  their  hatred.  These  per- 
sons bite  like  dogs,  and  strive  to  make  good  appear  evil. 
Meanwhile,  most  holy  father,  you  put  yourself  into  a  rage 
against  your  own  son.  -Why  have  you  afforded  matter  of 
joy  to  his  enemies  ?  Believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the 
spirits  whether  they  be  of  God.  I  trust  that,  when  you 
have  ascertained  the  truth,  all  this  delusion,  which  rests  on  a 
false  report,  will  be  dissipated.  I  pray  the  Spirit  of  truth  to 
grant  you  the  grace  to  separate  light  from  darkness,  and  to 
favor  the  good  "by  rejecting  the  evil."  You  see  then,  father, 
that  the  eminent  rank  of  the  popes  does  not  exempt  them 
from  the  influence  of  delusion  ;  and  I  may  now  add,  that  it 
only  serves  to  render  their  mistakes  more  dangerous  and  im- 
portant than  those  of  other  men.  This  is  the  light  in  which 
St.  Bernard  represents  them  to  Pope  Eugenius  :  "  There  is 
another  fault,  so  common  among  the  great  of  this  world,  that 
I  never  met  one  of  them  who  was  free  from  it ;  and  that  is, 
holy  Yather,  an  excessive  credulity,  the  source  of  numerous 
disorders.  From  this  proceed  violent  persecutions  against 
the  innocent,  unfounded  prejudices  against  th&  absent,  and 
tremendous  storms  about  nothing  (pro  nikilo).  This,  holy 
father,  is  a  universal  evil,  from  the  influence  of  which,  if  you 
*re  exempt,  I  shall  only  say,  you  are  the  only  individual 
among  all  your  compeers  who  can  boast  of  that  privilege."* 
*  De  Consid.  lib.  ii.,  c.  ult 


POPES    MAY   BE    SURPRISED.  383 

I  imagine,  father,  that  the  proofs  I  have  brought  are  be- 
ginning to  convince  you  that  the  popes  are  liable  to  be  sur- 
prised. But,  to  complete  your  conversion,  I  shall  merely 
remind  you  of  seme  examples,  which  you  yourself  have 
quoted  in  your  book,  of  popes  and  emperors  whom  heretics 
have  actually  deceived.  You  will  remember,  then,  that  you 
have  told  us  that  Apollinarius  surprised  Pope  Damasius,  iu 
the  same  way  that  Celestius  surprised  Zozimus.  You  inform 
us,  besides,  that  one  called  Athanasius  deceived  the  Emperor 
Heraclius,  and  prevailed  on  him  to  persecute  the  Catholics. 
And  lastly,  that  Sergius  obtained  from  Honorius  that  infa- 
mous decretal  which  was  burned  at  the  sixth  council,  "  by 
playing  the  busy-body,"  as  you  say,  "  about  the  person  of 
that  pope." 

It  appears,  then,  father,  by  your  own  confession,  that  those 
who  act  this  part  about  the  persons  of  kings  and  popes,  do 
sometimes  artfully  entice  them  to  persecute  the  faithful  de- 
fenders of  the  truth,  under  the  persuasion  that  they  are  per- 
secuting heretics.  And  hence  the  popes,  who  hold  nothing 
in  greater  horror  than  these  surprisals,  have,  by  a  letter  of 
Alexander  III.,  enacted  *an  ecclesiastical  statute,  which  is 
inserted  in  the  canonical  law,  to  permit  the  suspension  of  the 
execution  of  their  bulls  and  decretals,  when  there  is  ground 
to  suspect  that  they  have  been  imposed  upon.  "  If,"  says 
that  pope  to  the  Archbishop  of  Ravenna,  "  we  sometimes 
send  decretals  to  your  fraternity  which  are  opposed  to  your 
sentiments,  give  yourselves  no  distress  on  that  account.  We 
shall  expect  you  either  to  carry  them  respectfully  into  exe- 
cution, or  to  send  us  the  reason  why  you  conceive  they  ought 
not  to  be  executed  ;  for  we  deem  it  right  that  you  should 
not  execute  a  decree,  which  may  have  been  procured  from 
us  by  artifice  and  surprise."  Such  has  been  the  course  pur- 
sued by  the  popes,  whose  sole  object  is  to  settle  the  disputes 
of  Christians,  and  not  to  follow  the  passionate  counsels  of 
those  who  strive  to  involve  them  in  trouble  and  perplexity. 
Following  the  advice  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  who  in  this 
followed  the  commandment  of  Jesus  Christ,  thev  avoid  dora- 


384  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

ination.  The  spirit  which  appears  in  their  whole  conduct  is 
that  of  peace  and  truth.*  In  this  spirit  they  ordinarily  in- 
sert in  their  letters  this  clause,  which  is  tacilly  understood 
in  them  all — "  Si  ita  est — *i  preces  veritate-  nitantur — If  it  be 
so  as  we  have  heard  it — if  the  facts  be  true."  It  is  quito 
clear,  if  the  popes  themselves  give  no  force  to  their  bulls, 
except  in  so  far  as  they  are  founded  on  genuine  facts,  that  it 
is  not  the  bulls  alone  that  prove  the  truth  of  the  facts,  but 
that,  on  the  contrary,  even  according  to  the  canonists,  it 
is  the  truth  of  the  facts  which  renders  the  bulls  lawfully 
admissible. 

In  what  way,  then,  are  we  to  learn  the  truth  of  facts  ?  It 
must  be  by  the  eyes,  father,  which  are  the  legitimate  judges 
of  such  matters,  as  reason  is  the  proper  judge  of  things 
natural  and  intelligible,  and  faith  of  things  supernatural  and 
revealed.  For,  since  you  will  force  me  into  this  discussion, 
you  must  allow  me  to  tell  you,  that,  according  to  the  senti- 
ments of  the  two  greatest  doctors  of  the  Church,  St.  Augus- 
tine and  St.  Thomas,  these  three  principles  of  our  knowledge, 
the  senses,  reason,  and  faith,  have  each  their  separate  objects, 
and  their  own  degrees  of  certainty.  And  as  God  has  been 
pleased  to  employ  the  intervention  of  the  senses  to  give  en- 
trance to  faith  (for  "  faith  cometh  by  hearing"),  it  follows, 
that  so  far  from  faith  destroying  the  certainty  of  the  senses, 
,o  call  in  question  the  faithful  report  of  the  senses,  would 
^ad  to  the  destruction  of  faith.  It  is  on  this  principle  that 
St.  Thomas  explicitly  states  that  God  has  been  pleased  that 
ttie  sensible  accidents  should  subsist  in  the  eucharist,  in  order 
.hat  the  senses,  which  judge  only  of  these  accidents,  might 
not  be  deceived. 

We  conclude,  therefore,  from  this,  that  whatever  the  prop- 
osition may  be  that  is  submitted  to  our  examination,  we 
must  first  determine  its  nature,  to  ascertain  to  which  of  those 
hree  principles  it  ought  to  be  referred.  If  it  relate  to  a  super- 
natural truth,  we  must  judge  of  it  neither  by  the  senses  nor 
by  reason,  but  by  Scripture  and  the  decisions,  of  the  Church, 
*  Alas!  &.M 


TE8TIMOXY    OF    THE    SENSES.  385 

Should  it  concern  an  unrevealed  truth,  and  something  within 
the  reach  of  natural  reason,  reason  must  be  its  proper  judge. 
And  if  it  embrace  a  point  of  fact,  we  must  yield  to  the  testi- 
mony of  the  senses,  to  which  it  naturally  belongs  to  take 
cognizance  of  such  matters. 

So  general  is  this  rule,  that,  according  to  St.  Augustine 
and  St.  Thomas,  when  we  meet  with  a  passage  even  in  the 
Scripture,  the  literal  meaning  of  which,  at  first  sight,  appear* 
contrary  to  what  the  senses  or  reason  are  certainly  persuaded 
of,  we  must  not  attempt  to  reject  their  testimony  in  thif 
case,  and  yield  them  up  to  the  authority  of  that  apparent 
sense  of  the  Scripture,  but  we  must  interpret  the  Scripture, 
and  seek  out  therein  another  sense  agreeable  to  that  sensible 
truth ;  because,  the  Word  of  God  being  infallible  in  the  facts 
which  it  records,  and  the  information  of  the  senses  and  of 
reason,  acting  in  their  sphere,  being  certain  also,  it  follows 
that  there  must  be  an  agreement  between  these  two  sources 
of  knowledge.  And  as  Scripture  may  be  interpreted  in  dif- 
ferent ways,  whereas  the  testimony  of  the  senses  is  uniform, 
we  must  in  these  matters  adopt  as  the  true  interpretation  of 
Scripture  that  view  which  corresponds  with  the  faithful  re- 
port of  the  senses.  "Two  things,"  says  St.  Thomas,  "must 
be  observed,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  St.  Augustine :  first, 
That  Scripture  has  always  one  true  sense ;  and  secondly,  That 
as  it  may  receive  various  senses,  when  we  have  discovered 
one  which  reason  plainly  teaches  to  be  false,  we  must  not  per- 
sist in  maintaining  that  this  is  the  natural  sense,  but  search 
out  another  with  which  reason  will  agree."* 

St.  Thomas  explains  bis  meaning  by  the  example  of  a 
passage  in  Genesis,  where  it  is  written  that  "  God  created 
two  great  lights,  the  sun  and  the  moon,  and  also  the  stars," 
in  which  the  Scripture  appears  to  say  that  the  moon  is 
greater  than  all  the  stars  ;  but  as  it  is  evident,  from  unques- 
tionable demonstration,  that  this  is  false,  it  is  not  our  duty, 
says  that  saint,  obstinately  to  defend  the  literal  sense  of  that 
passage.  ;  another  meaning  must  be  sought,  consistent  with 

«  I.  p.  q  r>3,  «.  l. 
17 


386  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

the  truth  of  the 'fact,  such  as  the  following,  "  That  the  phrase 
great  light,  as  applied  to  the  moon,  denotes  the  greatness  of 
that  luminary  merely  as  it  appears  in  our  eyes,  and  not  the 
magnitude  of  its  body  considered  in  itself." 

An  opposite  mode  of  treatment,  so  far  from  procuring  re- 
spect to  the  Scripture,  would  only  expose  it  to  the  contempt 
of  infidels ;  because,  as  St.  Augustine  says,  "  when  they 
found  that  we  believed,  on  the  authority  of  Scripture,  in 
things  which  they  assuredly  knew  to  be  false,  they  would 
laugh  at  our  credulity  with  regard  to  its  more  recondite 
truths,  such  as  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  eternal  Me." 
"And  by  this  means,"  adds  St.  Thomas,  "we  should  render 
our  religion  contemptible  in  their  eyes,  and  shut  up  its  en- 
trance into  their  minds." 

And  let  me  add,  father,  that  it  would  in  the  same  mannei 
be  the  likeliest  means  to  shut  up  the  entrance  of  Scripture 
into  the  minds  of  heretics,  and  to  render  the  pope's  authority 
contemptible  in  their  eyes,  to  refuse  all  those  the  name  of 
Catholics  who  would  not  believe  that  certain  words  were  in 
a  certain  book,  where  they  are  not  to  be  found,  merely  be- 
cause a  pope  by  mistake  has  declared  that  they  are.  It  is 
only  by  examining  a  book  that  we  can  ascertain  what  words 
it  contains.  Matters  of  fact  can  only  be  proved  by  tho 
senses.  If  the  position  which  you  maintain  be  true,  show  it, 
or  else  ask  no  man  to  believe  it — that  would  be  to  no  pur- 
pose. Not  all  the  powers  on  earth  can,  by  the  force  of 
authority,  persuade  us  of  a  point  of  fact,  any  more  than 
they  can  alter  it ;  for  nothing  can  make  that  to  be  not  which 
really  is. 

It  was  to  no  purpose,  for  example,  that  the  monks  of  Rat- 
isbon  procured  from  Pope  St.  Leo  IX.  a  solemn  decree,  by 
which  he  declared  that  the  body  of  St.  Denis,  the  first  bishop 
of  Paris,  who  is  generally  held  to  have  been  the  Areopagite, 
had  been  transported  out  of  France,  and  conveyed  into  the 
chapel  of  their  monastery.  It  is  not  the  less  true,  for  all 
this,  that  the  body  of  that  saint  always  lay,  and  lies  to  this 
hour,  in  tho  celebrated  nbbev  which  V^ars  l.is  nnmo  ?nd 


GALILEO.  387 

within  the  walls  of  which  you  would  find  it  no  easy  matter 
to  obtain  a  cordial  reception  to  this  bull,  although  the  pope 
has  therein  assured  us  that  he  has  examined  the  affair  "  with 
all  possible  diligence  (diligentissime),  and  with  the  advice  of 
many  bishops  and  pi  elates ;  so  that  he  strictly  enjoins  all  the 
French  (districts  prcecipientes)  to  own  and  confess  that  these 
holy  relics  are  no  longer  in  their  country."  The  French, 
however,  who  knew  that  fact  to  be  untrue,  by  the  evidence 
of  their  own  eyes,  and  who,  upon  opening  the  shrine,  found 
all  those  relics  entire,  as  the  historians  of  that  period  inform 
us,  believed  then,  as  they  have  always  believed  since,  the  re- 
verse of  what  that  holy  pope  had  enjoined  them  to  believe, 
well  knowing  that  even  saints  and  prophets  are  liable  to  be 
imposed  upon. 

It  was  to  equally  little  purpose  that  you  obtained  against 
Galileo  a  decree  from  Rome,  condemning  his  opinion  respect- 
ing the  motion  of  the  earth.  It  will  never  be  proved  by  such 
an  argument  as  this  that  the  earth  remains  stationary ;  and 
if  it  can  be  demonstrated  by  sure  observation  that  it  is  the 
earth  and  not  the  sun  that  revolves,  the  efforts  and  argu- 
ments of  all  mankind  put  together  will  not  hinder  our  planet 
from  revolving,  nor  hinder  themselves  from  revolving  along 
with  her. 

Again,  you  must  not  imagine  that  the  letters  of  Pope 
Zachary,  excommunicating  St.  Virgilius  for  maintaining  the 
existence  of  the  antipodes,  have  annihilated  the  New  World ; 
nor  must  you  suppose  that,  although  he  declared  that  opin- 
ion to  be  a  most  dangerous  heresy,  the  king  of  Spain  was 
wrong  in  giving  more  credence  to  Christopher  Columbus, 
•who  came  from  the  place,  than  to  the  judgment  of  the  pope, 
who  had  never  been  there,  or  that  the  Church  has  not  de- 
rived a  vast  benefit  from  the  discovery,  inasmuch  as  it  has 
brought  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  to  a  great  multitude 
of  souls,  who  might  otherwise  have  perished  in  their  infi- 
delity. 

You  see,  then,  father,  what  is  the  nature  of  matters  of 
fact,  and  on  what  principles  they  are  to  be  determined ;  from 


388  PROVINCIAL    LETTERS. 

all  which,  to  recur  to  our  subject,  it  is  easy  to  conclude,  that 
if  the  five  propositions  are  not  in  Jansenius,  it  is  impossible 
that  they  can  have  been  extracted  from  him ;  and  that  the 
only  way  to  form  a  judgment  on  the  matter,  and  to  produce 
universal  conviction,  is  to  examine  thac  book  in  a  regular 
conference,  as  you  have  been  desired  to  do  long  ago.  Until 
that  be  done,  you  have  no  right  to  charge  your  opponents 
with  contumacy ;  for  they  are  as  blameless  in  regard  to  the 
point  of  fact  as  they  are  of  errors  in  point  of  faith — Catholics 
in  doctrine,  reasonable  in  fact,  and  innocent  in  both. 

Who  can  help  feeling  astonishment,  then,  father,  to  see  on 
the  one  side  a  vindication  so  complete,  and  on  the  other  ac- 
cusations so  outrageous !  Who  would  suppose  that  the  only 
question  between  you  relates  to  a  single  fact  of  no  importance, 
which  the  one  party  wishes  the  other  to  believe  without 
showing  it  to  them !  And  who  would  ever  imagine  that 
such  a  noise  should  have  been  made  in  the  Church  for  noth- 
ing (pro  nihilo),  as  good  St.  Bernard  says  !  But  this  is  just 
one  of  the  principal  tricks  of  your  policy,  to  make  people  be- 
lieve that  everything  is  at  stake,  when,  in  reality,  there  is 
nothing  at  stake ;  and  to  represent  to  those  influential  per- 
sons who  listen  to  you,  that  the  most  pernicious  errors  of 
Calvin,  and  the  most  vital  principles  of  the  faith,  are  involved 
in  your  disputes,  with  the  view  of  inducing  them,  under  this 
conviction,  to  employ  all  their  zeal  and  all  their  authority 
against  your  opponents,  as  if  the  safety  of  the  Catholic  relig- 
ion depended  upon  it ;  whereas,  if  they  came  to  know  that 
the  whole  dispute  was  about  this  paltry  point  of  fact,  they 
would  give  themselves  no  concern  about  it,  but  would,  on 
the  contrary,  regret  extremely  that,  to  gratify  your  private 
passions,  they  had  made  such  exertions  in  an  affair  of  no 
consequence  to  the  Church.  For,  in  fine,  to  take  the  worst 
view  of  the  matter,  even  though  it  should  be  true  that  Jan- 
s«nius  maintained  these  propositions,  what  great  misfortune 
would  accrue  from  some  persons  doubting  of  the  fact,  pro- 
Tided  they  detested  the  propositions,  as  they  have  publicly 
declared  that  they  do  ?  Is  it  not  enough  that  they  aro  con- 


389 

demned  by  everybody,  without  exception,  and  that,  too,  in 
the  sense  in  which  you  have  explained  that  you  wish  them 
to  be  condemned  ?  Would  they  be  more  severely  censured 
by  saying  that  Jansenius  maintained  them  ?  What  purpose, 
then,  would  be  served  by  exacting  this  acknowledgment,  ex- 
cept that  of  disgracing  a  doctor  and  bishop,  who  died  in  the 
communion  of  the  Church  ?  I  cannot  see  how  that  shorJd 
be  accounted  so  great  a  blessing  as  to  deserve  to  be  pur- 
chased at  the  expense  of  so  many  disturbances.  What  inter- 
est has  the  state,  or  the  pope,  or  bishops,  or  doctors,  or  tho 
Church  at  large,  in  this  conclusion?  It  does  not  affect  thorn 
in  any  way  whatever,  father;  it  can  affect  none  but  your 
Society,  which  would  certainly  enjoy  some  pleasure  from  tho 
defamation  of  an  author  who  has  done  you  some  little  injury. 
Meanwhile  everything  is  in  confusion,  because  you  have  mado 
people  believe  that  everything  is  in  danger.  This  is  the  se- 
cret spring  giving  impulse  to  all  those  mighty  commotions, 
which  would  cease  immediately  were  the  real  state  of  the 
controversy  once  known.  And  therefore,  as  the  peace  of  tho 
Church  depended  on  this  explanation,  it  was,  I  conceive,  of 
the  utmost  importance  that  it  should  be  given,  that,  by  ex- 
posing all  your  disguises,  it  might  be  manifest  to  the  wholo 
world  that  your  accusations  were  without  foundation,  your 
opponents  without  error,  and  the  Church  without  heresy. 

Such,  father,  is  the  end  which  it  has  been  my  desire  to 
accomplish ;  an  end  which  appears  to  me,  in  every  point  of 
view,  so  deeply  important  to  religion,  that  I  am  at  a  loss  to 
conceive  how  those  to  whom  you  furnish  so  much  occasion 
for  speaking  can  contrive  to  remain  in  silence.  Granting 
that  they  are  not  affected  with  the  personal  wrongs  which 
you  have  committed  against  them,  those  which  the  Church 
suffers  ought,  in  my  opinion,  to  have  forced  them  to  com- 
plain. Besides,  I  am  not  altogether  sure  if  ecclesiastics 
ought  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  their  reputation  to  calumny, 
especially  in  the  matter  of  religion.  They  allow  you,  never- 
theless, to  say  whatever  you  please ;  so  that,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  opportunity  which,  by  mere  accident,  you  afforded 


390  PROVINCIAL  LETTERS. 

me  of  taking  their  part,  the  scandalous  impressions  which 
you  are  circulating  against  them  in  all  quarters  would,  in  all 
probability,  have  gone  forth  without  contradiction.  Their 
patience,  I  confess,  astonishes  me ;  and  the  more  so,  that  I 
cannot  suspect  it  of  proceeding  either  from  timidity  or  from 
incapacity,  being  well  assured  that  they  want  neither  argu 
ments  for  their  own  vindication,  nor  zeal  for  the  truth.  And 
yet  I  see  them  religiously  bent  on  silence,  to  a  degree  which 
appears  to  me  altogether  unjustifiable.  For  my  part,  father, 
I  do  not  believe  that  I  can  possibly  follow  their  example. 
Leave  the  Church  in  peace,  and  I  shall  leave  you  as  you  are, 
with  all  my  heart ;  but  so  long  as  you  make  it  your  sole 
business  to  keep  her  in  confusion,  doubt  not  but  that  there 
shall  always  be  found  within  her  bosom  children  of  peace, 
who  will  consider  themselves  bound  to  employ  all  tlieir  en- 
deavors to  preserve  her  tranquillity. 


LETTER  XIX. 

FRAGMENT   OF   A   NINETEENTH   PROVINCIAL   LETTER,  ADDRESSED   TO 

•    '  PERE  ANNAT. 

REVEREND  SIR, — If  I  have  caused  you  some  dissatisfaction, 
in  former  Letters,  by  my  endeavors  to  establish  the  innocence 
of  those  whom  you  were  laboring  to  asperse,  I  shall  afford 
you  pleasure  in  the  present,  by  making  you  acquainted  with 
the  sufferings  which  you  have  inflicted  upon  them.  Be  com- 
forted, my  good  father,  the  objects  of  your  enmity  are  in 
distress !  And  if  the  Reverend  the  Bishops  should  be  in- 
duced to  carry  out,  in  their  respective  dioceses,  the  advice 
you  have  given  them,  to  cause  to  be  subscribed  and  sworn 
a  certain  matter  of  fact,  which  is,  in  itself,  not  credible,  and 
which  it  cannot  be  obligatory  upon  any  one  to  believe — you 
will  indeed  succeed  in  plunging  your  opponents  to  the  depth 
of  sorrow,  at  witnessing  the  Church  brought  into  so  abject  a 
condition. 

Yes,  sir,  I  have  seen  them  ;  and  it  was  with  a  satisfaction 
inexpressible  !  I  have  seen  these  holy  men ;  and  this  was  the 
attitude  in  which  they  were  found.  They  were  not  wrapt 
up  in  a  philosophic  magnanimity  ;  they  did  not  affect  to  ex- 
hibit that  indiscriminate  firmness  which  urges  implicit  obedi- 
ence to  every  momentary  impulsive  duty  ;  nor  yet  were  they 
in  a  frame  of  weakness  and  timidity,  which  would  prevent 
(hem  from  either  discerning  the  truth,  or  following  it  when 
discerned.  But  I  found  them  with  minds  pious,  composed, 
and  unshaken  ;  impressed  with  a  meek  deference  for  ecclesias- 
tical authority  ;  with  tenderness  of  spirit,  zeal  for  truth,  and 
a  desire  to  ascertain  and  obey  her  dictates  :  filled  with  a  sal- 
utary suspicion  of  themselves,  distrusting  their  own  infirm- 
ity,  and  regretting  that  it  should  bo  thus  exposed  to  trial  • 


392  PROVINCIAL   LETTERS. 

yet  withal,  sustained  by  a  modest  hope  that  their  Lord  will 
deign  to  instruct  them  by  his  illuminations,  and  sustain  them 
Dy  his  power ;  and  believing,  that  that  peace  of  their  Saviour, 
whose  sacred  influences  it  is  their  endeavor  to  maintain,  and 
for  whose  cause  they  are  brought  into  suffering,  will  be,  at 
once,  their  guide  and  their  support !  I  have,  in  fine,  seen 
them  maintaining  a  character  of  Christian  piety,  whose 
power 

I  found  them  surrounded  by  their  friends,  who  had  hastened 
to  impart  those  counsels  which  they  deemed  the  most  fitting 
in  their  present  exigency.  I  have  heard  those  counsels ;  I 
have  observed  the  manner  in  which  they  were  received,  and 
the  answers  given  :  and  truly,  my  father,  had  you  yourself 
been  present,  I  think  you  would  have  acknowledged  that,  in 
their  whole  procedure,  there  was  the  entire  absence  of  a 
spirit  of  insubordination  and  schism ;  and  that  their  only  de- 
sire and  aim  was,  to  preserve  inviolate  two  things — to  them 
infinitely  precious — peace  and  truth. 

For,  after  due  representations  had  been  made  to  them  of 
the  penalties  they  would  draw  upon  themselves  by  their  re- 
fusal to  sign  the  Constitution,  and  the  scandal  it  might  cause 
in  the  Church,  their  reply  was .»-,«.-  •,.* 


THE   KKD 


CARTERS'    CATALOGUE. 


REMOVAL. 
Robert  Carter  <&  Brothers  have  removed  from  No.  \ 
285,  to  No.  530  Broadway,  corner  of  Spring-street. 

530  Broadway,  New  York, 
August,  1856. 

ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS' 


The  Gospel  in  Ezekiel, 

By  Thomas  Guthrie,  D.D.     12mo.     $1  00. 

Typical  Forms  and  Special  Ends  in  Creation. 

By  James  McCosb,  LL.D.,  and  Dr.  Dickie.  8vo.  $2  00. 
u  Those  who  have  read  McCosb "s  great  work  on  the  Divine  Government,  will 
not  wait  for  any  favorable  testimony  to  any  thing  that  comes  from  his  pen, 
but  will  regard  his  name  on  the  title-page  as  a  sufficient  voucher  for  all  that  is 
to  follow.  The  present  work  fulfills  any  expectations,  even  the  highest,  that 
could  have  been  awakened  by  the  preceding  one.  It  is  alike  comprehensive 
in  its  range,  accurate  and  minute  in  its  details,  original  in  its  structure,  and  de- 
vout and  spirited  in  its  tone  anil  tendency.  It  illustrates  and  carries  out  tho 
great  principle  of  analogy  in  the  Divine  plans  and  works,  far  more  minutely 
and  satisfactorily  than  it  has  been  done  before;  and  while  it  presents  the  re- 
sults of  the  most  profound  scientific  research,  it  presents  them  in  their  higher 
and  spiritual  relations." — Argus. 

Dr.  Williams's  Sermon  on  Missions. 
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and  associates  his  comments  with  a  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  in  a  very  impress- 
ive manner. " — Zion's  Herald-. 

•a*  This  volume  completes  Dr.  Jacobus's  Commentary  on  the  Gospels — Vol.  I. 
being  Matthew— Vol.  II.,  Mark  and  Luke— VoL  III.,  John.  The  volumes  are  all 
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COMMENTARIES  ON  THE  BIBLE, 


*  Pool's  Annotations. 

New  edition,  on  larger  paper,  3  vols.  royal  8vo.     Sheep.     $10  00. 

"  Of  the  general  character  of  this  work,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  it  brings  out  in 
a  felicitous  and  concise  manner  the  meaning  of  the  text,  without  connecting 
with  it  any  extended  practical  remarks.  It  contains  not  only  the  whole  of  the 
sacred  text,  as  many  commentaries  of  that  day  did  not,  various  readings  also, 
together  with  parallel  passages  ;  and  though  it  never  transcends  the  capacity 
of  an  ordinary  Enslish  reader,  yet  it  evidently  comes  from  a  rich  store-house 
of  biblical  learning.  It  disposes  of  difficult  passages,  not  by  gathering  all  the 
opinions  that  have  been  put  forth  concerning  them,  but  by  stating  the  writer's 
own  mature  judgment,  with  the  grounds  on  which  it  has  been  formed.  The 
notes  are  generally  brief,  condensed,  perspicuous,  and  easily  remembered."— 
PuHtan  Recorder. 

*  Henry's  Commentary. 
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it  their  refreshment,  their  food,  and  their  pleasure  to  peruse  it  steadily,  and  in 
so  doing  they  can  reap  a  great  reward.  We  knew,  some  years  ago,  a  lady  in 
humble  life,  more  than  sixty  years  of  age,  who  borrowed  the  folio  edition  of 
Henry's  Commentary,  and  keepir.g  it  always  open  on  her  bed,  was  ac- 
customed to  run  to  it  whenever  a  single  moment  of  leisure  offered  itself;  so 
that,  by  patient  continuance  in  well-doing,  even  at  that  late  period  of  life,  she 
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she  expressed  her  gratitude  for  the  opportunity  which  she  had  thus  enjoyed 
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Holy  Word."—  Observer. 

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on  the  choice  of  books,  says: 

"  In  reading  the  New  Testament,  I  recommend  Doddridge's  Family  Expositor, 
as  an  impartial  INTERPRETER  AND  FAITHFUL  monitor.  Other  Expositions  might 
be  mentioned,  greatly  to  the  honor  of  their  respective  authors,  for  their  several 
excellences;  such  as,  elegance  of  exposition,  ucnteness  of  illustration,  and 
copiousness  of  erudition  ;  but  I  know  of  no  Expositor  who  unites  so  many  ad- 
vantages as  Doddridge ;  whether  yon  regard  the  fidelity  of  his  version,  the 
fullness  and  perspicuity  of  his  composition,  the  utility  of  his  general  and  his- 
torical information,  the  impartiality  of  his  doctrinal  comments,  or,  lastly,  the 
piety  and  pastoral  earnestness  of  his  moral  and  religions  applications.  He  has 
made,  as  he  professes  to  have  done,  ample  use  of  the  commentators  that  pre- 
ceded him;  and  in  the  explanation  of  grammatical  difficulties,  he  has  profited  J 
much  more  from  the  philological  writers  on  the  Greek  Testament  than  could  ( 
almost  have  been  expected  in  so  multifarious  an  undertaking  as  the  Family  ^ 
Expositor.  Indeed  for  all  the  most  valuable  purposes  of  a  Commentary  on 
the  New  Testament,  the  Family  Expositor  can  not  lull  too  early  into  the  bands 
of  those  intended  for  holy  orders." 


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it  at  once  philosophically,  practically,  aud  spiritually ;  has  evinced  a  profound 
insight  into  the  mysteries  of  human  nature,  the  nicest  discrimination  in  respect 
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a  barber's  apprentice,  and  by  various  shifts  managing  to  toil  along  his  rugged 
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hospital.  In  the  lives  of  missionaries  which  we  have  read,  none  have  proved 
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